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THE ALPHA. 



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THE ALPHA, 


FIRST PRINCIPLE OF THE HUMAN MIND: 


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THE NATURE OF TRUTH. 




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“ Certainly it is heaven upon earth to have a man’s mind move in charity, rest 
in Providence, and turn upon the poles of Truth.”— Lord Bacon. 


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LONDON: 

THOMAS TTARETLD, PRINTER, SILVER STREET 
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THE DAUGHTER OE DIONYSIUS 


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IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED 


BY THE AUTHOR. 




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PREFACE. 


It has frequently been said that there exists a 
necessity for a New Faith. This volume is intended 
to supply the want:— Faith in the perfectibility 
of Human Nature. It is also affirmed that men are 
yearning for a New Truth. It has been the object of 
the Author to supply the desideratum :— That Truth 

WHICH IS THE EXPONENT OF ALL TRUTH. How far 
he has succeeded in either of these objects will be best 
ascertained by an attentive and unprejudiced perusal 
of the following pages. 

The serious, Truth-seeking Reader will wish the 
lighter portions of the work away : whilst he who 
reads chiefly for amusement will perhaps regret that 
it has not been rendered less serious and more 
amusing. But for this difference in tastes a smaller 
book would have sufficed, and the object aimed at 
would have been more directly, perhaps more success¬ 
fully, attained. As it is, however, a perusal of the 
whole is necessary : and it is hoped that the task will 
not be found either uninteresting or oppressively 
laborious. 

The subject would admit of much greater diffused- 
ness and elaboration; but it has been the wish of the 



Vlll 


PREFACE. 


Author to be as concise as was consistent with clear¬ 
ness ;—to suggest the whole subject rather than very 
minutely to develope it. It has also been his aim, 
however unsuccessful the attempt, to evolve his 
thoughts in the fewest words : and this has led him, 
in the more important portions of the work, to have 
recourse to Typographical aids for the accomplishment 
of his purpose. Some will set down this deviation 
from what is usual as a species of Pedantry or 
Conceit. Others will deem it dogmatical in its 
character, and a proof of bad Taste. If, however, the 
peculiarity in question is useful in the attainment of 
any of the purposes for which especial attention to 
particular passages might properly be called, it 
matters but little to what other motive his deviation 
from the usual practice may be ascribed. 

The Author is also aware that in his comments on 
men and things ;—on the great Luminaries of the 
world, and on the Institutions their genius has helped 
to raise around us—he will very frequently seem 
obnoxious to the charge of Egotism, want of Modesty, 
and, possibly, to something more heinous than either. 
But, it should be borne in mind that in all such cases 
he is not uttering Opinions, nor speaking in his own 
person or on his own behalf; but in the sacred name 
of Truth; —that what he utters (if he has not mis¬ 
taken Falsehood for Truth) is not his own, but God’s. 
Whenever what is called Modesty is not the result of 
Doubt, it is the result of Affectation. Absolute con¬ 
viction knows nothing of Modesty; nor can it be 


PREFACE. 


IX 


influenced by conventional Taste. It has its work 
to do, and does it, without intending offence or 
fearing to inflict it; — without asking itself what 
the “ world” will say and think, or calculating on 
the consequences. He is, however, fully sensible 
that what has been attempted in the present work 
has been but imperfectly accomplished. This is a 
matter of his own; and for the inadequacy of the 
attempt he alone is answerable. Whithersoever 
Truth has marshalled him he has been obliged to go. 
Whatsoever it has commanded him to utter he has 
uttered. Whatsoever it has bid him do, to the best 
of his ability he has done. The mode of utterance 
he has chosen, and the means he has resorted to for 
the accomplishment of his task, are alone the things 
for which he is responsible : and, in these, he is 
sufficiently aware of his deficiencies to know that he 
stands in need of the reader’s benevolent forbearance. 
He has, however, no right to expect immunity from 
censure ; nor does he seek it. Good intentions are 
not of themselves sufficient to exonerate misguided 
Folly from reproach. 

The volume has been written in haste and amid 
the pressure of other than literary avocations. If, 
however, it meet with favour from the Public its 
Author might find time to improve it: if otherwise, 
the thought and labour it has cost him will have 
been a sufficient sacrifice for the oblivion that awaits 
his lucubrations. 

It was the Author’s intention to publish the work 


X 


PREFACE. 


under the fictitious name of the narrator of the expe¬ 
riences the book is meant to memorize, but regard 
to truthfulness has admonished him to abandon the 
intention. It might be said that the same love of 
truthfulness ought to have induced him to supply 
the blank in the title.page by the insertion of his 
own. If, however, the positions assumed in the 
Alpha are true, a name cannot do anything in the 
way of enforcing them on the attention of the 
thinking portion of mankind: and if not true, they 
will not need the leaden weight of an unknown name 
to sink them in the stream on which he has had the 
hardihood to launch them. 

London, 

November 4th, 1850. 


CONTENTS. 


PART THE FIRST. 

CHAPTER I. 

Introduction, 1—What Ramus Randolph saw and did in his travels, 2— 
His object, 2—What is useless in travel, 3—Some account of himself, 
4—His brother Raphael, 5—Ramus Randolph unhappy, 7—A cause 
of his disquietude, 8—His dislike of the “ Sports” of Gentlemen, 10— 
Falls in Love, 11—Ellen Raymond, 11—Randolph’s notions of the 
sacredness of Love, 13—Public Worship, 13 —Marriage sometimes 
the cause of Selfishness, 15—Philanthropy not Happiness, nor its results 
a general good, 16—Randolph becomes a recluse and devotes himself 
to study, but is still unhappy, 17. 

CHAPTER II. 

Randolph meditates on the objects of Human life, 19—A description: his 
soliloquy, 20—A mysterious Stranger, 21—Knowledge once ours is 
always ours, 22—A Revelation, 23—Beauty a nonentity, 23—Igno¬ 
rance the cause of Misery, 23—Intelligence the First Principle, 24— 
A Light begins to dawn on Ramus Randolph, 24—Philosophers and 
Philosophy, 25—Religion, Morals, Literature, and Laws inadequate to 
the suppression of Vice and Crime, 26—Knowledge is Happiness, 26— 
Danger of propagating the Truth, 27—Randolph’s Happiness, 27— 
Why the Angels are happy, 28—The necessity of Human Ignorance, 
28—The nothingness of the Soul without Knowledge, and its probable 
fate, 29. 

CHAPTER III. 

The Revelation continued, 31—Uselessness of the Metaphysician’s labours, 
31—There is no Evil Principle in the Universe, 31—Good and Evil, 31 
—Society is only Barbarism reduced to a system, 32—Man’s nature 
described; Immateriality of Knowledge; certain false notions 
corrected; Ignorance a negation, 33—All Qualities of Mind are 
mere phases of our Knowledge, 33—Profanity of certain Religious 
dogmas, 34—Uselessness of moral precepts, 35—How we arrive at a 
conception of the Virtues, 35—The necessity for their exercise until 
they can be superseded by general Intelligence, 36—Happy results of 
general Intelligence anticipated, 36—Wherever there is Mystery there 
is Ignorance or Fraud, 36—The Deity is prescient Intelligence, 37— 
The Divine Will, 38—The Human Will within certain limits, absolute 


Xll 


CONTENTS. 


on the Earth, 38—The original Error of Mankind, 39—The all-suffi¬ 
ciency of Knowledge, 39—Necessity for Knowledge; the Millennium of 
Mind, 40—To be brought about by general Education, 40—Signs of 
the Time; Charge of Dionysius to Randolph, 40—What Men mean by 
Beauty; Beauty is Perfection, 42—Sublimity defined, 43—Reasons of 
our appreciation of what we call the Beautiful in Forms, Colours, 
Odours, Sounds, 43—Knowledge, positive, and negative, 44—What 
Positive Knowledge will accomplish; the end of the Revelation, 45. 

CHAPTER IV. 

Randolph returns to his home, 46—His Happiness, 47—His reflections, 48 
—The difficulty of communicating his newly-found Knowledge to the 
world, 49—The consequences of Marriage sometimes evil; Catholicus ; 
Madness and its causes, 50—Friendship, 51—His Delays and his 
Observations, 52—An Event; Dionysius Lackland, his character, 
perplexities and opinions, 53—Ellen Lackland, 54—A discovery, 55— 
Death of Dionysius, 56—Randolph sees his mission accomplished in a 
Vision or Dream in which Dionysius explains his new Philosophy, 56 
—The details of the Vision promised in the three subsequent chapters, 
57—Its importance, 57. 

CHAPTER V. 

The Vision: its commencement and phases described, 59—Dionysius ad¬ 
dresses the assembled thousands in Westminster Abbey; his objects 
stated, 61—The use of Philosophy, and what it is ; it must have Truth 
for its basis, 62—Reason the sole Arbiter of Truth, 63—Reason defined, 
64—Perception or Consciousness innate, 64—Objection against the 
existence of Consciousness, and the infallibility of Reason answered, 65 
—Philosophy the basis of Religion, 66—WLat is Truth ?—the mode 
of ascertaining what it is, 67—How to know what Man is; and thence 
to know what is Good and what is Evil, 69—The Human Soul an 
Intelligent Principle; its mission described, 71—Intelligence the First 
Principle of all things or Deity, 71—Man an embryo Intelligence and 
an Animal: he is liable to Error; but enjoys an immunity from 
Crime, 72—Recapitulation of the arguments, 73—From the Nature of 
the Deity his Will and Purposes are deduced, 74—The Nature of the 
Human Soul determines the purpose of its being, 75- 

CHAPTER VI. 

The Vision continued: Will, a Quality or Mode of Intelligence, 76—The 
Human Will why given, and how limited, 77 —The misuse or misdirec¬ 
tion of the Human Will the cause of the Inconveniences we call Evil, 
78—Some of the Evils enumerated, and the means of their removal 
pointed out, 79—Intelligence all-sufficient for the work it has to ac¬ 
complish, 80—The Soul or Intelligent Principle capable only of Know¬ 
ledge; proofs of this, 81—-The Nature and Attributes of the Deity 


CONTENTS. xiii 

examined, 83—The existence of Spirit demonstrable as the existence of 
Matter, 84—Prescience, Omnipotence, Ubiquity, Omniscience, Perfect 
Justice, Perfect Goodness, the whole resolvable into Infinite Intelli¬ 
gence, 86—Man can be only relatively Just or Good, 88—Mercy, 89 
—Truth considered as an attribute, 90—Error of the Metaphysicians, 
91—The Immortality of the Soul, 92. 

CHAPTEE VII. 

The Vision continued: purport of former Chapter collected, 97—The Laws 
of the Deity are general, 97—Some things exist as a Necessity of 
General Laws; an example drawn from Human Labours, 97—There 
is a Purpose in all the works of the Deity, 99—Eeason for concluding 
that Man is the Primary Purpose of all Creation, 99—Why Man is 
dual-natured, 100—Ignorance, and Blind Faith in Blind Leaders the 
causes of innumerable Evils, 100—Error exists in the exact ratio of 
our Ignorance, 101—Evil the result of Error, 101—The Desire to 
Know, the active Principle of our existence, 102—Error defined, and 
its source sought, 103—Its source traced to Man, 105—There is a 
beneficent necessity for Error, 106—Though an Erring being, Man is 
not a Sinful or Fallen being, 107—Human Nature and Brute Nature 
contrasted, 107—The Beaver, 109—What the Human Mind has ac¬ 
complished, 110—Man’s natural love of Knowledge, 112—The Human 
Hand: its uses a proof of his Immortality, 112—Eeason liable to 
Error, 114—The absoluteness of the Human Will, 115—Man’s chief 
Error, 115—Truth and Knowledge synonymous, 116—Philosophy 
conducts to the Eehgion of Christ, 117—Some of the sad consequences 
of Error, 117—Plato, Zeno, Aristotle, Socrates, Bacon, 119—Poets the 
chief pioneers of Truth, 119—Christ the greatest, 120—End of the 
Vision, 120—The Vision accounted for, 120—Society responsible for 
the Evil-doings of Individuals, 121. 


PART THE SECOND. 


CHAPTEE I. 

First Conversation, Eandolph and Civilis, 123—Faith and Belief defined 
and contradistinguished from Knowledge, 125 — The Inefficacy of 
Faith, 128 and 131—Miracles, 128—Sin, Crime, and Future Punish¬ 
ment, 131—Just Laws, 132—An Instinct of the Soul, 136—Beauty, 
our notions of it whence derived, 137—Beauty, our inquiries regarding 
it leads to the First Principle, 137—How to know Truth always, and 
how to estimate its value, 142—The Soul a Eevelation to itself, 145— 
Scepticism defended, 146—How Society dwarfs the Intellects of Men, 
and how it makes its “Nobles” and Philosophers, 147. 



XIV 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER II. 

Effect on Civilis of former conversation, 150—The reason why Men are 
created Ignorant, 151—Free-Will and Necessity examined and ex¬ 
plained, 153—The doctrine of Predestination refuted, 153—General 
Laws subject to accidents, 159—The failure of the Soul, or for¬ 
feiture of its individual existence hereafter—no Injustice, 159— 
Dreams: relation of two singular dreams by Civilis, 161—Singular 
characteristic of Dreams, 163—Reminiscences of a Pin, 163—The 
Philosophy of Work, Jenny Blanchard, Lydia Brierley, 170—Millinery 
Establishments, 174—Uselessness of Philanthropy, 176—Magdalens, 
Penitentiaries, Charitable Asylums, 177—The “dignity” of Work, 181. 

CHAPTER III. 

Man dual-natured. The Soul does not Live, and thence cannot die, 184— 
Error the result of wrong convictions : Man not a Sinful being, nor a 
Moral being, 185—Paul quoted, 186—Selfishness the Principle of all 
Life: but not of the Soul, 187—Mystic Religion, Morals, Sciences, 
Literatures and Laws; their origin and uses glanced at, 188—Self- 
reliance insisted on, 192—Phrenology, 192 and 220—First Extract 
from the Papers of Dionysius—Metaphysics, Morality and the Virtues 
examined, 195—All Qualities of Mind, and all our nobler Passions are 
only phases of the Soul’s Knowledge, 201—The “ profitable” uses to 
which one portion of Society turns Vice and Crime, 2C4—Memory, 206 
—Madness, Lunacy, Derangement, not Mental diseases , 215—John 
Dalton, 215—Milton, 216—Probable cause of Derangement, 216— 
Remedy suggested, 217—The Museum, 216—The Printing-Press may 
some time be dispensed with, 213 and 219—Opinion, 219. 

CHAPTER IV. 

Conversation continued, 220—Second Extract from the Papers of Diony¬ 
sius : Didactic and Imaginative Literature examined, 223—The Rea¬ 
sons why Education at present tends to Evil as well as to Good, 223— 
Arguments pro and con stated, 224—-Social Influences unfavourable to 
Truth and the happy results of Truth, 224—The natural potency of 
Conviction proved by examples, 226—Four important Propositions 
established, 229—Opinions, Speculations and Dicta not Knowledge, 

230— The necessity for Certainty in our Strivings after Truth, 231— 
Innate feeling of the truth of things peculiar to cultivated intellects, 

231— The evils of Uncertainty, 232—Human Nature falsified in our 
Literature, 232—The Virtues mere Sentiments, 234—Poetry and the 
Drama, 234—Tale and Romance writers, 236—Books not necessary to 
the highest knowledge, 237—The Soul the sonrce of all Truth attain¬ 
able by Humanity, 237—A word to the uneducated, 238—Conversation 
continued, 238—Want of Certainty the cause of the comparative use¬ 
lessness of our Literature, 238—Why is Error as Influential as Truth ? 


CONTENTS. 


XV 


239 The simplicity of true Philosophy, 240—Is all Crime the result of 
False Social arrangements? 241—The Question debated and deter¬ 
mined in the affirmative, 242—Sudden Passion, 244—The Fear of 
Punishment no guarantee for Innocence, 247. 

CHAPTER Y. 

A Storm: The Beneficence of the Deity, 249—Dread of Truth in a Clergy¬ 
man, 251—Third Extract from the Papers of Dionysius: History and 
Biography examined, 253—An unerring test of Right and Wrong ne¬ 
cessary before History and Biography can be useful: Religion and 
Morality do not supply this test, 253—Tha importance of a First Prin¬ 
ciple, 254—Civilization of Ancient Egypt, 256—Greece, 257—Rome, 
259—Christianity, 259—Modern Civilization, 259—Biography: Genius 
not to be attained by imitation, 264—Conversation continued, 265— 
In what does real Knowledge and true Wisdom consist ? 266—What is 
Laughter ? Laughter and Wonder contrasted, 270—Wit, 271—Poetry, 
and what constitutes the Poetical character, 272—Anecdote respecting 
Laughter, 273 —The difficulty of acting in contravention of our Know¬ 
ledge ^ 274—The natural Homage the Soul pays to Truth is Religion, 

274— The Religion of Christ, 275—Public Prayer and Public Worship, 

275— Dionysius on Prayer, 276. 

CHAPTER VI. 

Quacks and Physicians, 279—Ignorance the Cause of disease, 280—Immor¬ 
tality, like Health, attainable only through a rational Effort, 281— 
Profanity of ascribing Pestilential visitations to God, 283—Over¬ 
population, 283—Spiritualism the only rational “ check” to over¬ 
population, 284—The Religious phase of the Dionysian Philosophy 
brought into a brief view in the form of a Catechism, 285—Conscience, 
the Knowledge of Right and Wrong, 293—Fourth Extract from the 
Papers of Dionysius: Recapitulation of his inquiry into the value of 
Literature, 294—The object of its Authors commended, 225—Its 
general inutility deduced from its results, 295—Its real value pointed 
out, 296—Civilized Cannibalism, 297—The Knowledge contained in 
the First Principle, 298—Definition of true Socialism, 299—“ Know 
Thyself,” 300—Man cannot withhold from Man that which is neces¬ 
sary to his Spiritual perfection, 301—Address to Labouring-Men, 302— 
Conversation continued, 302—“ Do Right” is the sum total of Morality 
and Religion, 303—Conclusion of the Chapter, 304. 

CHAPTER VII. 

What the Critics have to do who disagree with our reasonings and conclusions, 
305—Reason for publishing them, 307—Satisfaction of Governments 
with the present system of things, 307—Last Extract from the Papers 
of Dionysius: Origin of Governments, Laws, Morality, the Virtues, and 
Mystic Religion: Society as it is, 308—Definition of Wealth, 308 


XVI 


CONTENTS. 


—The Instinct which prompts us to the acquisition of Knowledge 
and Happiness misapplied to the acquisition of Wealth, 308 The 
Desire to get Wealth the mainspring of all Social movements, 309 

_Laws were framed to sanction this Acquisitiveness, 309—Theory 

of the origin of Governments and Laws, 310—Brute-Force or 
“ Might is Right,” 310—Crime the result of Property, 312—Retri¬ 
butive Justice the result of Crime, 313—Injustice called Justice, and 
elevated into a Virtue, 313—Laws Civil and Criminal the offspring of 
Property, 313—The first Judge, 314—Commencement of Civilization, 
314 —Wrong has been practically converted into Right by Usage, 314 
—Serfdom obtains a Right of Property in its Labour, 315—Compli¬ 
cation of Rights and Interests, 315—The Compromise universally 
recognised, 316—Advantages and Disadvantages of the Compromise, 

317— Mystic Religion, the Moralities and the Virtues how fabricated, 

318 — Origin of Literature and the Sciences, 318—Law-made or Con¬ 
ventional Conscience, 318—Christ’s recipe for a Conscience, 320—The 
Social Compact (insisted on by some writers) explained, 322—Origin 
of Commerce, 323—The Sacredness of Property in England, 323— 
Summary of the Conventionalities resulting from the Selfish or Brute- 
force Principle, and reflections thereon, 324—The anomalies which are 
the result of the Selfish Principle, 325—The Impotency of Morality 
and Mystic Religion, 326—Reason for the same, 327—Justice a Lot¬ 
tery, 328—Circumstantial Evidence, 328—The influential Portion of 
Society interested in the continuance of Crime, 329—The Church and 
its Phantom war against Sin, 329—The result of our boasted Civiliza¬ 
tion, 330—Dickens, 331—Our Religion a mere quid pro quo, 331—Our 
Sensualism in all things, 332—Abandonment of the System the only 
remedy, 333— A word to the uneducated Working Classes, 334—Con¬ 
versation continued, 334—Hopes for England, 335—The “Happy 
medium” of the Moralists, 336—Self-Education, 337—Uselessness of 
Association for mere Physical ameliorations, 338—What Governments 
ought to do, 339—What Social Institutions ought to be, 340—Objec¬ 
tions against Equality in Education and Condition answered, 341— 
Fitness the perfection of all Art, 343—Beauty, 344—The Perfection of 
Social arrangements is the Mental elevation and Happiness of all, 345 
—Universal Enlightenment alone can accomplish this, 347—Anti- 
Slavery, and Peace Society-men, 348—End of the Conversations. 

CONCLUDING CHAPTER, 

The Author endeavours to set himself right with his Reader, 351—Ration¬ 
alism, 351—The Church of England, 352—Infallibility of the Pope, 
353—Defence of our Levelling propensities, 354—Propositions to which 
the attention of our Critics are directed, 354—Defence of our Pride, 
355—Concluding Address to the Reader. 


THE ALPHA. 


CHAPTER I. 

INTRODUCTION. 

It has long been the fashion amongst travellers to 
historize their wanderings over the world for the 
benefit of the stay-at-homes of their native country; 
and it must be confessed that many wonderful things 
have been seen and described by these vagrant 
gentlemen, and ladies errant, who have so cou¬ 
rageously encountered dangers by sea and land for 
the edification and amazement of their wonder-loving 
readers. 

For my own part I have been no great reader of 
travels ; probably from the accidental circumstance 
of an early acquaintance with the most veritable, the 
most entertaining, and, withal, the most instructive 
specimens of this species of writing that our nation, 
rich in this literature, affords; I mean Robinson 
Crusoe, Peter Wilkins, and Gulliver. After these 
masterpieces, I confess that the tales of modern 
travellers have but little charm for me: they are 
tedious, insipid, and improbable. 

Every one, however, to his taste : I have mine; 
and my reason for intruding it on thy attention, friend 
reader, is thus early to apprise thee, that though I 
am myself a traveller, and have seen the greater part 
of the world's wonders, and have had my share of 

B 




2 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part I. 


cockney ecstacy in beholding a sunrise from Mount 
Blanc, and of seeing the going down of the great 
luminary with a splendour almost equal to Turner’s 
delineation of that every-day phenomenon, yet I have 
no intention to describe these raptures under the 
impression that thou, my dear reader, wouldst care 
to feast on such delights by proxy. The great 
Niagara has dashed over my head: I have spent 
months amongst the Trappers in the bush; I have 
had my share in perils of all sorts : I have smoked 
the pipe of peace with the Austral savages in the 
prairies, and with the polished Arabs on the plains 
of Palestine. I have fought with the Savages, and 
discoursed with the Pligh Priest of Mecca. I have 
seen tempests on the Pacific, and tornadoes on the 
Plain: I have done battle with the Tiger and the 
Wild-Boar, and could show scars in proof that I have 
not escaped scatheless, though I have come off con¬ 
queror, in these dare-devil contests. But it is not 
to the relation of such experiences that I would ask 
thee to accompany me in these pages. There can be 
but few who have circumnavigated the globe without 
some difficulty and danger: and none but the most 
insensible of mortals could pass over the ruins of 
ancient kingdoms, or wander for weeks over solitudes 
where the foot of man had never previously penetrated, 
without feeling some emotion, and deriving some im¬ 
provement. These, however, are all personal matters, 
and can be of no real interest or importance to others, 
except in so far as the advantages obtained are com¬ 
municable. The result of our experiences are alone 
valuable : 


“ The rest is only leather and prunella.” 

As I am not about to write my travels; and as 
Men, and their modes of thinking and acting, were 
the objects of my investigation in these peregrinations, 


Chap. 1.1 


THE ALPHA. 


3 


I will here briefly state the result of my inquiries 
and observations. In every part of the globe I found 
the “ Many ” degraded and miserable; and the 
“ Few ” miserable and luxurious. On the one hand 
ignorance and servility; on the other, cunning, rapacity, 
and power. I nowhere found more intelligence than 
at home ; nor, on the whole, more freedom of action 
and contentment. I had a great object in my 
wanderings, but I did not attain that object, or only 
in part. I travelled to consult mankind at the Anti¬ 
podes about that which is always best sought after 
nearer home. I probed other minds for that which 
can only be found, if ever found, by sounding the 
depths and shallows of our own. 

Some men have spent the best portion of a life¬ 
time in exploring the sources of a river: others in 
digging up the ruins of a city, or penetrating into 
the hidden mysteries of a pyramid or a people. 
Curiosity and a love of enterprise have been the chief 
stimulants to their labours; and the empty applause 
of a wonder-loving world, their half-despised, half- 
coveted reward. But, when the sources of the Nile 
shall have been found; when the hieroglyphics of 
Egypt shall have been deciphered ; when Herculaneum 
shall have been disentombed; when all the sculptured 
fragments of iEgsea and Greece shall have been 
collected and arranged, will the living world of 
humanity be either the wiser, the better, or the 
happier for these labours ? Say the circle had been 
squared; perpetual motion found; the philosopher’s 
stone discovered; the elixir vitae compounded, and 
each of us in possession of the immortalizing draught, 
again, I ask, would mankind be better, wiser, happier, 
than at present ? In every case I believe the answer 
must be—not a whit; and probably for the gold and 
the elixir, far more miserable than ever. That which 
made a traveller of me, dear reader, and for many 
b 2 


4 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part I. 


years made every inn or hospitable hut my home, is 
none of these things ; but I anticipate a smile of 
pity when I inform thee, as I am about to do, what 
my object was. Undaunted by the ill-success of 
the princely Abyssinian, I wandered, dear reader, 
in quest of happiness. Instead of searching for the 
sources of the Nile, I have diligently sought for 
the source of Evil, and the ultimatum of human 
Good ! Whither I have wandered, what I have 
seen, what I have felt, are of no consequence: the 
mode of my operations, and the result of my re¬ 
searches, are the things which can alone interest 
thee. That I have discovered the source of all Evil, 
and that I have found the happiness I sought, is, 
however, of consequence as much to thee as to 
myself; for if the happiness were not communicable, 
a good the world at large might share in, it would 
have been none to me, and, like Rasselas, I should 
have had my toil in vain; but, unlike him, I 
would not have recorded my discomfiture. Having 
said thus much as to my object, let me proceed to give 

SOME ACCOUNT OF MYSELF. 

My name (as the title-page will have informed 
thee), is Ramus Randolph. I was christened Ramus 
after the celebrated Erench philosopher of the six¬ 
teenth century, from whose family I am a collateral 
descendant; a Randolph having married a niece of 
the philosopher in the time of Mary Stuart. Indeed, 
she was a domestic of the princess and accompanied 
her to Scotland. Had it not been for the celebrity of 
Ramus as a scholar, and a martyr to his creed (for 
he was one of the victims of the massacre of Saint 
Bartholomew), the Randolphs would never have ac¬ 
knowledged a consanguinity to a poor shepherd-boy of 
Picardy ; for the Randolphs are a proud family, and 
boast of a descent from I know not what Chieftain 


Chap. I.] 


THE ALPHA. 


0 


before Scotland had a king. My father had a literary 
taste, and was, moreover, somewhat of a connoisseur 
in Art. Probably these tastes induced my father to 
bestow on me a literary patronymic, and on an elder 
brother (respecting whom I shall say a word or two 
presently) an artistic one : he was christened Raphael. 
We had a sister whose name was Mary, who died 
soon after she reached womanhood. Peace to the 
memory of my sister ! A massive tomb covers her 
remains: far fitter that those sweet emblems of her 
spotless mind, the wild-flowers which she loved, had 
been permitted to shed their dew-tears morning and 
evening over her too early grave ! Raphael conceived 
a taste for the Pine Arts ; probably from the circum¬ 
stance that he bore a name sacred to one of them. 
He desired to follow Painting as a profession, and had 
secretly made some progress in the study. This was 
needless as regarded his means and prospects, for our 
family was rich as well as proud, and he its eldest 
representative. It may be that he had some hidden 
motive for this desire; it was, however, opposed vio¬ 
lently by my mother, and ultimately abandoned by 
Raphael. He was a boy of singularly studious habits, 
and fond of solitude. I know not how it was, but 
my mother was never fond of him, although his na¬ 
ture was most inoffensive and affectionate. I have 
heard it said that he came into the world a little earlier 
than he was generally expected, and that the shame 
of an early imprudence had somehow strangely 
ripened into a dislike of the object which brought it to 
her remembrance. I am unskilled in such philosophy, 
and will leave the matter to those who pretend to a 
nearer acquaintance with feminine sympathies than I 
can lay the slightest claim to. Certain it is, however, 
that he was no favourite with my mother, who be¬ 
stowed on me nearly all her care and affection. This 
my brother’s extreme sensitiveness could not bear. 


6 


THE ALPHA. 


[Paut I. 


and solitude and study became a passion with him, 
and a resource. My father had been dead some years, 
and the management of the family property should 
have devolved on Raphael, who was of an age to un¬ 
dertake it, and possessed discretion and talent enough 
to have had this confidence reposed in him. He was, 
however, still a minor, and my mother had the legal 
disposal of everything until my brother should come 
of age. Home now became unendurable, and one day 
Raphael absented himself, leaving a letter addressed to 
my mother, taking leave of her for ever, and renouncing 
all claim to his legal rights, which, without his mother’s 
love, he declared to be valueless. He preferred, he 
said, to lay aside his name, forget his lineage, re¬ 
nounce his wealth, and rely on his talents and his 
virtues to supply their place; or, if he should fail in 
this, to meet poverty, and want, and death amongst 
strangers, rather than submit to unkindness in his 
paternal home, where he had deserved nothing but 
respect and love. Another letter was addressed to 
my sister, of whom he was very fond, taking an affec¬ 
tionate farewell of her, “perhaps,” he said, “for 
ever !” and so it proved. Year after year rolled on, 
but Raphael Randolph was never heard of: not the 
slightest trace of him could be discovered. I was 
his junior by eight years, and too young, and too 
proud of the favouritism I enjoyed, to regard his loss 
as a circumstance to be much regretted, but he had 
an advocate in Mary, who taught me afterwards how 
worthy he was of all my regard and affection. 

There are but two things in the world which have 
the power to render a human being utterly selfish: 
what they are will be seen in the sequel. I was 
swayed by one of these temptations, but an angel 
whispered me, and I did not fall. 

My brother’s abandonment of his home, and name, 
and property; and my mother’s and sister’s death, 


Chap. I.] 


THE ALPHA. 


7 


which occurred some twelve years after his departure; 
left me a large revenue at my disposal, but happiness 
formed no portion of my patrimony. I believe this 
avowal will be scarcely intelligible to the majority of 
my readers :—young, educated, handsome; the grand 
old hall of the Randolphs in the centre of the finest 
circle of estates in Northumberland for my residence; 
friends of my own rank in life ; political prospects 
before me; servants, horses, health, and withal un¬ 
happy ! I do not mean uneasy, unsettled, undecided; 
but objectless, and mentally unhappy. All men are 
said to be constantly in pursuit of happiness. Gene¬ 
rally, however, tlieir aims are definable; they can 
name their wants—wealth, power, pleasure, ease, a 
wife, or perhaps, a mistress: my aim was undefi- 
nable: I had no name for it but the vague one,— 
Happiness. It was a soul-yearning after a spiritual 
good; the great good, to have which is to have all 
things; to want which, though having all besides, is 
to be destitute; and feeling the want,—to be most 
wretched. Such was my unenviable lot: but, in 
looking back to my coming into possession of the 
temporal advantages just enumerated, I do not regret 
that I lacked the power to enjoy them after the fashion 
of the world: indeed; I should now despise myself 
had it been otherwise. 

My old steward, Abel Sykes, who had been many 
years my father’s gardener, used to tell me that I was 
like no one else he had ever met with, and, when a 
boy, was always unlike other boys. He did not, he 
said, dislike my odd ways, on the contrary, they 
rather endeared me to him; but he could not under¬ 
stand why I should avoid my friends, and refuse to 
mingle in their sports and festivities. Perhaps one 
of my singularities consisted in this,—I never could 
treat my domestics as menials, and I never had any 
that did not deserve to be considered friends. One 


8 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part I. 


day I remember when Abel had been kindly remon¬ 
strating with me about my “ odd ways,” I let him 
a little into the cause of my disquietude by remarking 
that perhaps the real owner of Randolph Hall was 
toiling for his daily bread. A light broke in on Abel, 
and he said, as a tear trickled down his furrowed 
face, “ Ay, ay, I had forgot; though I never forget 
him in my prayers : but He who feeds the ravens, my 
dear master, will never forsake Raphael Randolph; 
nor will he ever forsake youand, turning away to 
suppress, or more probably to hide, and at the same 
time to indulge his sorrow, he left me to my reflec¬ 
tions. I am not going to recount them: such details 
are not the purpose of these pages. They were, how¬ 
ever, not ungentle, nor confined to my brother and 
Abel Sykes : they were extended to the entire human 
family. At that moment my soul signed, as it were, 
a bond of brotherhood with every creature that can 
sympathise with another’s sorrow. I am not about 
to hold myself up as a pattern of virtue. I am quite 
certain that I am no saint. Every man who thinks 
acts, as far as circumstances will permit him, in con¬ 
formity with his convictions. A new conviction had 
taken possession of my mind; a conviction which 
diminished my inquietude, and ultimately gave an 
object to my being, a reality to my existence. It 
were to be wished that the wealthy could find time 
for reflection, and that some such incident as I have 
been describing could occasionally generate in their 
minds a new conviction. But of all men, those who 
are born to idleness have the least leisure, and were 
they not the most unthinking of mortals, they would 
certainly be the most unhappy. 

I have acknowledged that I am no candidate for 
canonization. To extreme piety, in the world’s ac¬ 
ceptation of the word, I could never advance the 
slightest claim: nay, I even deem lightly of that re- 


Chap. I.] 


THE ALPHA. 


9 


ligion which would make the world a charnel-house, 
and transform the “ human face divine” into the 
custom-made visage of an undertaker. The happi¬ 
ness for which 1 have sighed and sought has no re¬ 
ference to “a call:” nor could the most perfect cer¬ 
tainty of my being one of the “ elect” afford me the 
slightest consolation. I would not for the world be¬ 
lieve that nine-tenths of the human beings I meet are 
without the pale of salvation, myself the while snugly 
ensconced within. In such a case I should certainly 
endeavour to scramble back again, and take my 
chance with the greatest number. 

If in these particulars, friend reader, we chance to 
differ, there will, most likely, be no necessity for me 
to advise thee to shut the book, or, shouldst thou 
chance to be a “ reviewer” of books, to assure thee 
that thou mayest proceed to damn mine and me with¬ 
out further ceremony, and without sympathy or stint. 
But if thou art an unprejudiced seeker after Truth 
thou wilt bear with my plain-speaking, and my fa¬ 
miliarity, and my egotism, to the end. Were I pro¬ 
pounding opinions, it were meet that I should err on 
the side of modesty rather than of confidence; but 
as I write from conviction, and shall be able to give a 
reason for the faith that is in me, I hope I may, for a 
brief space, dogmatise without offence. 

From my childhood I have been addicted to a sort 
of philosophic seriousness; and on examining the 
nature of my feelings after Abel had touched the 
string on which they slept in an uneasy slumber, I 
perceived that they had more reference to others than 
concernment for myself; and the discovery was not 
without a solid and a lasting satisfaction. Years 
before the occurrence of the incident just referred 
to, I had indulged in most of the dissipations, in¬ 
dulgences, and frivolous pleasures which make up 
the business of a young man of property and fashion ; 


10 


THE ALPHA. 


[Paet L 


and, but for an unspeakable void which even the 
most innocent of these enjoyments left in my mind, I 
should have become as selfish and besotted a sen¬ 
sualist as any lord or lady in the land. And this is 
saying a good deal: it is, in fact, the whole of Rous¬ 
seau’s long-winded “ Confessions,” and a little more, 
simmered down to a sentence. It is, indeed, pro¬ 
bable, that this volume, as far as it refers to myself, 
will be viewed by many in the light of “ confessions;” 
for, if Abel Sykes was right in considering my man¬ 
ners and modes of thinking totally unlike those of 
other people, it is to be expected that the results will 
prove sufficiently unorthodox to be numbered with 
my sins: but if so, I hope my confessions will pro¬ 
cure for me the absolution in such cases made and 
provided. To begin, I am no sportsman. Even the 
“ gentle Izaac” could never have initiated me into the 
cruel mystery of baiting hooks, or “ playing” with 
the craftily ensnared denizen of the waters. I should 
have loved his songs, and tales, and gossiping philo¬ 
sophy ; but not his unfeeling amusement. The 
“manly” sport of hunting to the death the timid 
hare; of “bagging” partridges by the hundred; of 
butchering deer after the modern “ battue” fashion, 
by wholesale, and for the mere pleasure of the need¬ 
less slaughter,—though I disgrace and shock the 
manes of my fierce-minded ancestors, I must confess 
that I never could perceive the sport, or discover the 
manliness of such unmitigated savagery. If such is 
the sport of educated men, of “ gentlemen,” let us 
not blame the more innocent and rational amusement 
of the skittle-ground and ninepins of the hard-worked 
artisan. Gambling in all its phases I abhor. Steeple¬ 
chasing I detest for its brutality. Yet these amuse¬ 
ments are the chief components of the “ happiness” 
of men who passed their studious youth in the classic 


Chap. I.] 


THE ALPHA. 


11 


solitudes of a college! Again, 1 confess, such 
thoughts distressed and disgusted me. 

I turned my attention to politics : I mixed much 
with the leading politicians and parliamentary orators 
of the day. I penetrated into its mysteries, and 
shrunk from its polluting contact. The happiness I 
sought did not lie in that direction. At last, dear 
reader,—but this I assure thee was purely an acci¬ 
dental circumstance, not a premeditated one—I fell 
in love! With a young and beautiful “ right honour¬ 
able’' maiden ? No, dear reader. With some dow¬ 
ager Countess? No. With the rich widow of a 
city banker ? No: nor was it with a Dryad, nor a 
streamlet nymph, nor a sylph, nor a sentimental shep¬ 
herdess ; but a glorious woman: a virgin Eve!—a 
form and stature that would have left Praxiteles no¬ 
thing to imagine of feminine perfection had he de¬ 
sired a breathing prototype for a Pallas or a Juno. 
She might have forced Phidias himself to become a 
copyist, and the Athenians to build another temple 
to enshrine his peerless labour. Making due allow¬ 
ance for the exuberance of love mellowed by time 
into poetic rapture, such was Ellen Raymond. I 
have seen eyes as large as Ellen Raymond’s : I have 
seen a mouth as finely modelled: but eyes so full of 
soul, and lips with such unspeakable expression, 
never! 

Ellen Raymond—and this is another of my con¬ 
fessions—was a cheesemonger’s daughter of Cripple- 
gate, and a niece of Parmer Clutterbuck, the tenant of 
a little farm belonging to the Randolph estates, about 
three miles distant from the Hall. When I first saw 
her she was teaching a libertine honeysuckle to climb, 
more gracefully than had been its wont, over the en¬ 
trance of an arbour in her uncle’s garden. Clutter- 
buck’s daughter, a handsome girl of sixteen, was 


12 


THE ALPHA. 


[Paut I. 


standing near her watching the operation. Ellen was 
lightly, but neatly clad: a pale blue ribbon encircled 
her waist, to which it held prisoner a half-blown rose. 
A handkerchief of some gossamer-like material had 
been tied carelessly round her head, apparently to 
restrain the freedom of her luxuriant hair, which was 
of the darkest auburn and fell chiefly on one side; 
whilst playful zephyrs with a vagrant freedom, wan¬ 
toned amongst its wavy entanglements, ever and 
anon fruitlessly essaying to make pillage of a strag¬ 
gling lock. I have named the feeling which then 
possessed me, Love : it was more like Idolatry : it was 
Worship, for it carried my thoughts heavenward to 
the Author of that glorious being; and I said to my¬ 
self, “ Can such a creature have been formed for the 
empty conventionalities of earth ? The soul of the 
universe might inhabit that fair temple ! no spot or 
taint of sin should ever touch it!” To have known 
that she had ever tasted sorrow, would, at that mo¬ 
ment, have been the .bitterest draught of my existence. 
I hastened from the spot for fear of profaning it with 
a sigh. 

I met Clutterbuck returning from his labours, and 
inquired of him with as little confusion as I could, 
the name and history of his fair visitor. These he 
gave me in a few words, adding that she was the only 
child of his sister; had had a good education; was 
a very amiable and affectionate girl; and, finally, was 
on the eve of marriage with a London clergyman. 
His daughter Lucy was, he said, to return with her 
in a few days, and perform the part of bridesmaid 
at the forthcoming ceremony. 

Eive-and-twenty years previously Ellen Clutterbuck 
had been waiting-woman to my mother; and now 
she was the wife of a London cheesemonger, and 
the mother of the noblest creature my eyes had ever 
looked upon, or my fancy pictured. I did not love 


Chap. I.] 


THE ALPHA. 


13 


the old hall the less on account of these reflections; 
but Ellen Raymond could never be its mistress ! and 
I felt that another void had been created in my mind, 
since (as I thought) Rate had interposed another 
barrier betwixt me and happiness. I rode down to 
Clutterbuck’s the next evening, having promised that 
I would do so, or I should never again have seen the 
bride-elect of the nameless London clergyman. I 
partook with them of the evening repast, and con¬ 
versed with Ellen much as I might have done with 
an angel; that is, I gave occasion to her conversa¬ 
tion rather than took part in it: and, although she 
conversed on ordinary subjects, and in an ordinary 
manner, but with much good sense and propriety, I 
felt myself to be of too mortal and gross a nature to 
do more than make brief replies to her remarks when 
addressed to me, and ask frivolous questions in return. 
Once during—but, no ! I have forsworn all needless 
details ; and of all topics, this is the one on which it 
would be most unseemly to indulge in them. There 
are some things too holy to be unbosomed even to a 
most dear friend, much less to be blazoned before the 
world in printer’s ink : one of them is the soul’s 
silent syllablings with its God; another, the secret 
aspirations of its earthly love. As long as the world 
continues ignorant, what is called “worship” will 
continue to be performed in public ; and men will as 
publicly, and indelicately, babble about their loves or 
lusts : but as knowledge increases these improprieties 
will cease ; realities will be substituted for pretences, 
and men will be too conscious of the indelicacy of these 
practices to indulge systematically in either of them. 
The one savours strongly of cant; the other of 
libidinousness. Sincerity and purity revolt at both. 
The mass of mankind are at present too animally- 
given to comprehend the sacredness of feelings which 
to utter would be profanation ; and which can only 


14 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part I. 


be truly communicated from soul to soul by means 
of that mysterious power, that wordless spirit-lan¬ 
guage, Sympathy. 

I have, however, an object in this narrative of my 
love, or it would have remained untold for ever. I 
stayed till near midnight, and then remounted my 
horse and rode towards the hall of the Randolphs, 
lighted on my solitary way by the waning moon. 
Three evenings afterwards I again visited the Cowslip 
Leasowes, as Clutterbuck’s little farm was called, and 
was a listener rather than a talker on this occasion 
also. The next day Ellen Raymond and her cousin 
left Northumberland, and I took them in the old 
family carriage to the neighbouring town, whence 
they were to proceed by the mail to the metropolis. 

On parting with Ellen I said to her, “ Should I 
ever hear of you again in the great world, Miss Ray¬ 
mond, by what name shall I know you ?” She replied 
with ineffable modesty and frankness, that she hoped 
to live and die Ellen Lackland. We parted. The 
horses flew along the dusty road like demons, and a 
cloud separated me from all of heaven I had ever 
seen on earth. 

Time heals wounds, but it never effaces the re¬ 
membrance of their anguish: it also mellows the 
passions into philosophic calmness, but it never ob¬ 
literates first love. The impure animal portion 
perishes: the spiritual lives for ever. Love is un¬ 
selfish, changeless, and eternal. Mine was too 
etherial, and too intense not to have consumed its 
possessor had it not been capable of diffusion. 

My unbreathed devotion for Ellen Raymond was 
perhaps of too spiritual a nature for creatures subject 
to all the “ skyey influences,” and to the cares and 
vicissitudes of earth: and I have lived long enough 
to perceive that had my passion been less hopeless, 
my life had been less happy. The pure angelic being 


Chap. I.] 


THE ALPHA. 


15 


my soul has ever idolized, may have been, to a certain 
extent, imaginary; but not being liable to change, 
my affection has suffered no abatement. This living 
image of womanly perfection has been my guardian 
angel through life: in the thronged city, in the 
desert, on the trackless deep, it has accompanied me: 
whithersoever I have wandered, the spirit of my love 
was there ! I had seen, I had talked to an angel: 
T had loved that angel with an unuttered, an unutter¬ 
able love: no matter that it was an unsyllabled 
secret: no matter that I had never been loved again ! 
I have often thought that the rule of the Catholic 
Church is a wise one which forbids its ministers to 
marry. He cannot think well for the many who 
must prudently think first for himself. As society is 
constituted a married man must be, to a certain ex¬ 
tent, a selfish man: and no selfish man was ever 
thoroughly happy. 

It was when time had begun to pour its healing 
balm on my silent aijguish, that the conversation 
with Abel Sykes which has been previously related, 
led me to perceive that the love I cherished for a 
single object was capable of diffusion over the entire 
family of men: that soul is of no sex; and that 
wherever there is soul there is something to care for, 
something to cherish, something to sympathise with 
and love. It was then I felt that there must be 
something radically wrong in human society that 
could in any case restrain this love within the narrow 
limits of a man’s hearth and home. Prom this 
moment my life had an object: dim, shadowy, and 
indefinite it was; but it was based on a conviction 
that this beautiful world, and the inner life of 
humanity have a purpose in them holier than those 
we apply them to, and capable of all we can conceive 
of happiness could we but find it out. I determined 
to attempt this discovery though the attempt should 


16 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part I. 


cost me my fortune, and only terminate with my 
mortal life. That I should have succeeded is doubt¬ 
ful, had it not been for a circumstance which will be 
fully described and commented on in its proper 
place. It will have been perceived that love, and 
loving service to the human family, was the panacea 
I relied on as the cure for all evil, and the source of 
all happiness : in other words, that riches, both in¬ 
tellectual and physical, are given to some and with¬ 
held from others, for the common good of all; that 
the rich man’s happiness grows out of his benevo¬ 
lence, whilst the happiness of the poor man springs 
from the consciousness that he is continually cared 
for by his more happily-circumstanced and com¬ 
passionate brother. It will be seen hereafter that my 
reasonings were superficial, and my conclusions false : 
that my theorizings and philosophizings, and the 
labours they led to, would have been as useless as 
those of the crowd of philosophers that have from 
time to time appeared in the world to steal its 
applause, and have then vanished in the mists they 
have raised around them, had not a fortuitous light 
gleamed upon me at the very moment I was about 
to abandon my well-intentioned labours in despair. 
For nearly twenty years I w T as strong in hope: and 
this hope, which was the spur to my activity, was 
the nearest approach I could make to happiness. I 
employed my fortune on every project that promised 
benefit to humanity. I used my influence to induce 
others to follow my example. Poverty is an evil: I 
almost dissipated my revenue to relieve it. Ignorance 
is an evil: I laboured hard in the work of its removal. 
Partial laws, tyrannical governments, excessive taxes, 
are evils: I joined associations to get rid of them. 
War is an evil: I aided in the agitation for universal 
peace. Slavery is an evil: I combined with the 
philanthropists heart and purse to crush it. Re- 


Chap. I.] 


THE ALPHA. 


17 


stricted trade is an evil: I leagued with the leaguers 
to set it free. And all this while I dreamed that 
the practice of Benevolence is happiness to the in¬ 
dividual dispenser thereof, and a benefit to the human 
race. Alas ! Benevolence does little more than foster 
the misery it would eradicate ; Legislation is merely a 
choice between two evils; and our highest Moral 
Philosophy, but Polly with a specious name ! What 
is Evil ? What is Good ? Is Poverty all evil ? Are 
Riches nothing but a good ? Is Slavery all evil ? Is 
Freedom unmixed Good ? Until Good and Evil can 
be distinguished and defined, it is impossible to de¬ 
termine what condition is the most desirable; and 
equally impossible to be happy. Our virtues must 
tend to Good, or how can they be virtues ? And if 
we know not what Good is, how is it possible to be 
virtuous? Is there such a thing as Virtue? Can 
there be such a thing as Vice ? or is everything con¬ 
ventional? Does Providence or Chance direct the 
world? That which thwarts our schemes we call 
Evil: that which promotes them, we denominate 
Good; but, generally, that which is good in my case, 
is evil to another; and any advantage I gain is 
usually procured at another’s cost. Thus I pondered 
in bewilderment the most distressing. After twenty 
years of ceaseless activity at home and in distant 
lands, what had I discovered? What progress had 
I made towards the attainment of that good for 
myself, which, with love in my soul towards every¬ 
thing capable of affection, is still no good to me, if 
it cannot be participated in by all men ? Absolutely 
none ! I shut myself up in a retired nook near 
London : I surrounded myself with books and works 
of art: I led the life of a recluse: I studied the 
writings of the sages, and philosophers and divines 
of almost every age and country: I sought to know 
what constitutes the greatness of the earth’s greatest 
c 


18 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part I. 


men ? Wherein were they wiser than others ? The 
Greeks! what do I learn, what did they intend I 
should learn, from their Arts, from their Lives, from 
their Philosophy ? Prom Italian Art, and from modern 
Philosophy can I obtain a clue to unexceptionable 
morality, to positive virtue, to real happiness P Prom 
the labours of the most pious and learned divines, is 
it possible to pick my way to heaven ? Such were 
my thoughts. 1 endeavoured to generalize what are 
usually held to be the best thoughts of the best men, 
and thus obtain a principle; but, alas! the more I 
probed into the meaning of the lauded geniuses of 
the earth, the less certain I became that they had 
any meaning to impart. All concurred in asserting 
that Virtue is the groundwork of happiness, but none 
could prove to me what Virtue is. To burn a heretic 
says one: to be a heretic says another. Those only 
who have experienced my perplexities can form an 
adequate idea of my misery. It had, however, ulti¬ 
mately a termination. A gentle hand withdrew the 
film from my eyes. I saw clearly. How this de¬ 
sideratum was accomplished will be shown in the 
succeeding chapters. 


Chap II.] 


THE ALPHA. 


19 


CHAPTER II. 

A REVELATION. 

I have meditated much on the evils that afflict 
humanity; on the good of which Man is capable; 
on the grovelling servility of his animal nature; on 
the high destiny of his mentality ; on the happiness 
of which he is ever in search ; on the miseries which 
dog him whithersoever he goes, and attend his 
motions constant as his shadow. I have searched for 
the principle of Evil, finding it not. I have sought 
daily for the Good which strives against this Evil, but 
it has eluded my search. I have read The Book, and 
have caught glimpses of the angel, but whether this 
angel has a home on earth I have not been able to 
find out. My whole being; the beautiful universe 
of which I form a part, assure me that God is the 
author of all Good; but surely not of Evil. Are 
there, then, two principles in nature each warring 
with the other, and, like two opposite and equal 
forces meeting, end in nothing ? Peace, peace, un¬ 
quiet spirit ! Three hundred generations of men 
have come and gone, and of this mystery have 
nothing known. Live out thy time as they have 
done : drain thou thy cup of bitterness when it is 
presented to thee : enjoy the good within thy reach : 
and when thy term of life shall have waned within 
thee, sleep soundly with the flowers thou lovest, and 
be a part of them. Haply the rose shall smell 
more sweetly whose roots have battened in thy 
clay! 

On one of those fine afternoons in August which 
c 2 


20 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part I. 


occasionally remind the traveller of sunny Italy with 
its canopy of deep blue, such were my reflections, as 
I rambled from my suburban hermitage which 
occupies a nook in a populous neighbourhood west¬ 
ward of the Great City. I was alone. Without any 
purpose but to meditate on the subjects which have 
ever entwined themselves so strangely about my 
being, I took my way towards the adjacent common, 
where the breath of heaven is very sweet, but where 
many a dark deed has been done at midnight that 
morning has stood aghast to look upon. Summer 
zephyrs fanned my face as I moved quietly along. I 
was on the common a solitary wanderer, half-uncon- 
sciously threading my way amongst the tufts of 
golden gorse that gleamed in the slanting sunbeams. 
The air was odorous. The mossy turf yielded to my 
tread. “The blind mole could not have heard my 
footfalls/’ I now and then stooped to examine the 
delicate heather, which, in places, grew in such plen¬ 
tiful luxuriance, that I feared to tread lest I should 
crush it, and rob it of an hour’s beauty. I had 
wandered to the highest part of the common, and, 
seating myself on the gently-sloping side of one of 
its mountain-like eminences, I occupied myself in the 
minute examination of a single plant of heather 
growing alone, that had, perhaps from its loneliness, 
particularly attracted my attention. As I gazed in 
admiration on its feathery foliage and tiny, bell-like 
blossoms, I said to myself, “ Is not this little flower 
as beautiful as any of the gaudier nurslings of the 
garden ? Certainly it is very beautiful: beautiful 
also is the many-petalled rose. Small, indeed, is 
the resemblance between them, yet assuredly both 
are beautiful: then in what consists their beauty ? 
Ay, what is Beauty ? Good, Evil, Virtue, Vice;— 
to define these I have often tried in vain. O, what 


Chap. II.] 


THE ALPHA. 


21 


is Beauty ? ” Full of emotion I gazed towards the 
blue heavens. I arose; and with feelings not easily 
reduced to words, I surveyed the whole wide scene 
around me. Everything was calm, odorous, delight¬ 
ful. Not a living thing was near me. Not a sound 
was audible save the shrill voice of the lark trilling 
his blithe song far above me in the still, blue air : 
but so high was the winged twitterer that he seemed 
motionless: a speck, scarcely distinguishable from the 
eternity of etherial blue into which he would momen¬ 
tarily melt, then dimly be seen again. But his 
shrill, clear notes pierced my ear as distinctly as 
though he had been singing a bondage-song, caged 
by some thoughtless cottager, in a neighbouring 
window. I felt to be alone with this sweet sound,— 
with it and heaven : and I exclaimed in a voice 
scarcely audible to myself, Oh! what is Beauty ? ” 
A low-toned, sweetly-modulated voice answered as 
though in reply to mine,—“ Ramus Randolph ! ” 
I turned, and lo, a stranger stood beside me! 
Whence he came I know not; nor from emotion and 
surprise had I the power to ask. He was a man of 
full height, dressed in a garb more Oriental than 
European ; sombrous, loose, and flowing. His neck 
was bare; his hair black and waving. Neither old 
nor young he seemed : his countenance was grave, 
noble, careworn, and commanding ; yet full withal, 
of sweetness and urbanity. I had never seen such a 
nobly-benign expression in a creature of earth, but 
occasionally something resembling it in the spirit- 
world of dreams. His presence inspired a confi¬ 
dence free from all suspicion. I had no fear. I 
probably felt more awe than pleasure; but his 
benignity insensibly dispelled the former feeling. 
He gently touched my arm, and again said, 
“Ramus! you marvel that I know you? I 


22 


THE ALPHA. 


[PART I. 


motioned an assent. “You marvel also whence 
I came, and how ? ” I again replied in the affir¬ 
mative by a movement of unrestrained respect. 
“ Do you know,” said he, “ how long you have been 
listening to that sky-chorister ? ” “ Only a few 

seconds,” I replied. He rejoined, whilst a faint but 
expressive smile played on his noble features,— 
“ Time flies us quickly in our ecstacies: we do 
sometimes live a century in a single day, and cram 
a lifetime Tvvixt two tickings of the clock. Space 
is like time. A thought is swifter than the lightning. 
To an Intelligence, the remotest Yonder is ever 
Here. To the Deity, the countless centuries, past 
and future, are an always-present Now.” Taking 
me by the hand, he continued:—“ Ramus Randolph, 
do you remember me now?” For an instant I saw, 
or fancied I saw, the features of a schoolfellow, 
whom since I was twelve years old I had never 
seen; and I said so. The impression was but 
momentary, nor could I then recall it, or bring 
to mind the name of the youth whom in that 
instant I fancied my questioner resembled. He re¬ 
marked :—“ Knowledge might slumber in the memory, 
but it never dies. It is like the dormouse in the 
ivied tower, that sleeps whilst winter lasts, but wakes 
with the warm breath of spring : it is like the life- 
germ in the seed: it is like the sweet music of the 
harp-strings, that waits but the master’s touch to 
wake it into utterance. Yes, Ramus, we have pored 
on the same page together. Let us sit down : and I 
who was once thy fellow-pupil will be thy Mentor 
now. It lacks an hour of sunset.” We sat upon the 
soft turf, which yielded to our pressure like an Oriental 
couch. Again taking me by the hand, he said:— 
“ Ramus, that question of thine ‘ What is Beauty ? ’ 
is not an idle one. Listen, and I will unravel some¬ 
thing of the mystery, as well as disentangle thy per- 


Chap II.] 


THE ALPHA. 


23 


plexities concerning Good and Evil.” I fixed my 
eyes inquiringly on his, and lie began 

A REVELATION. 

“ I am not going to preach to thee, Ramus 
Randolph. Thou hast thought too deeply and too 
well to listen long to words of dubious meaning and 
mere sound. Beauty is a name importing nothing. 
There is no such quality in nature. What men mean 
by it, and why they have preferences, I will by and 
by inform thee. Conceive of it for the present as 
one of those offshoots of Ignorance which stand in 
the way of human improvement and social happiness. 
It belongs to the same category as Justice, Mercy, 
Benevolence, Morality ;—terms of human invention, 
to express human qualities, but which beyond the 
sphere of Ignorance and Error, have no existence. 
Good and Evil are of the same family. To disem¬ 
bodied Mind they are mere terms, nonentities, ne¬ 
gations.” 

He paused : probably from observing a faint smile 
of incredulity overpass my countenance. With much 
gravity of manner, mingled, as I thought, with some 
severity, he resumed by remarking:—“We learn 
much in our youth which we must unlearn as men: 
Were there no Ignorance there could be no Error. 
Were there no Injustice there could be no Crime. 
Were there neither Error nor Crime there could be 
no unhappiness , and the Moralities and the Virtues 
could have no existence . Ignorance and Error are 
the cause of Selfishness. Selfishness is the cause of 
Misery. These all pertain to earth and to humanity. 
Love pertains to Heaven, and to the fulness of In¬ 
telligence. Perfect Intelligence results in perfect 
Love. By Love I mean that kindly consideration 
for others which is implied in the Christian precept 
‘ Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.' It is 


24 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part I. 


the direct contrary of Selfishness. There is no virtue 
which is not included in this Love ; whilst Love itself is 
included in Intelligence. Perfect Intelligence, viewed 
passively, implies the quality of knowing all things, 
and the power of doing all things: viewed actively, 
it is Love : thus;—every act of perfect Intelligence 
is Good because it is errorless, because it is Right;— 
hence Active Intelligence is Love. Intelligence is 
THE FIRST PRINCIPLE OF ALL THINGS : it absorbs 
everything in its own being. It is more than Justice, 
more than Mercy, more than Benevolence, more than 
Morality, more than Religion ; inasmuch as what is 
meant by these—all that is good in them, is included 
in the ever-living, all-directing, all-absorbing, sole- 
existing principle, Intelligence. Intelligence is, there¬ 
fore, the Great Pirst Cause, or Deity; and every act 
of Deity, which is of necessity errorless, is Love: 
and, Ramus, this all-embracing Love, is Happiness \” 

As he pronounced these words—his large, clear, 
soul-fraught eyes intently fixed on mine—he seemed 
to grow in stature as he rose in energy, intense, but 
passionless; and from Man to something too majesti¬ 
cally superhuman for description : and as he spoke, 
his measured and melodious w T ords were lights to my 
awakened soul;—Reader! may they be lights to 
thine;—and those brief, happy moments seemed an 
eternity. Not only my whole past life was crowded 
in that space, but all past things, and all the glorious 
future! I trembled and almost fainted with excess 
of pleasure. As if to calm my struggling spirit, and 
call it back to mortal consciousness, he touched the 
heath-plant I had been admiring, and said, in a tone 
of the most plaintive sweetness, “ Henceforth, Ramus, 
when thou see’st this simple flower, all lonely and 
neglected, think of Dionysius : both I and it have 
thriven best in solitude.” 

My attention was awakened; and again, for an 


Chap. II.] 


THE ALPHA. 


25 


instant, I recognised the features of a youthful friend. 
His words had evidently reference to some remem¬ 
bered sorrow. It was contagious. I was again all 
human, and I wept. In the same grave, passionless 
tone he proceeded:— 

“ The Universe is not an accident. These mosses, 
this blooming heather, yon lark, still carolling above 
us, and Man, more wondrous than them all, are not 
the workmanship of Chance, the uncaused conse¬ 
quents of nothing.” 

I acquiesced in silence, and he went on.— 

“ There are men miscalled philosophers, and almost 
miscalled men, to whom nothing exists they cannot 
see and handle: some of them have even doubted of 
their own existence. I am not recommending Faith ; 
for faith amounts to nothing: by Knowledge only can 
the soul increase in stature; but Scepticism so irra¬ 
tional as this almost degrades humanity to the level 
of the brute. The only real existence is Spirit, which 
preceded matter, willed its being, and shall re-resolve 
it into its native nothingness. Transitory and illusive 
is the thing perceived: changeless and eternal, the 
percipient Mind. Baseless is the world’s philosophy : 
false are all its aims: degrading is the scepticism 
w T hich clings to matter, but denies or doubts the 
being of the impalpable and viewless soul. From 
such misgivings thou hast not been free: but from 
the slough of Atheism, and the comfortless depths of 
settled doubt, thy reason hath preserved thee. Thou 
hast reflected too deeply, and reasoned far too well, to 
dream of consequences without a cause, or of design 
without a purpose. Though inarticulate, though 
voiceless, insentient nature has a tongue, a language, 
which only minds accustomed to reflection, and 
guided by perceptions more subtle than those of 
sense, can comprehend. Even from thy boyhood thou 
hast felt less lonely amongst the groves, and hills, and 


26 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part I. 


quiet lakes, and foaming waterfalls, than in the so¬ 
ciety of men. Thou perceivest I am no stranger to 
thy soul. But if thou hast shunned mankind thou 
hast ever borne in mind their miseries, and diligently 
and hopefully hast thou looked around thee for a cure. 
In the world’s Religion, in its Morals, in its Litera¬ 
ture, in its Philosophy, in its Government and Laws 
thou hast looked in vain: nay, thou hast wellnigh 
despaired ; and in dark moments thy sorrowing spirit 
has almost doubted of the controlling providence of 
God. Thou hast seen that the blind faith inculcated 
by Religion is no real barrier against vice and crime. 
Thou hast seen that Morals are more conventional 
than real: that Virtue is more productive of evil than 
of good; that Law is only legalized licentiousness; 
that Learning is little else than showy ignorance : and 
that the most sacred offices would go unfilled, but for 
the loadstone that moves everything—the pay. No 
wonder thou shouldst falter in thy faith. This can 
never be again. The light of truth, which nothing 
can extinguish, beams on thy soul, and doubt, and 
gloom, and misery shall be thine no more for ever ! It 
is the Happiness thou hast ever yearned for ; for it is 
communicable: it is the more thine own, because, 
without abstracting from thy store of it thou canst 
divide it, ad infinitum , amongst mankind. There is 
no mystery greater than this : and this thou per¬ 
ceivest is not a mystery. Knowing the cause of all 
the evils with which mankind is struggling, thou not 
only perceivest that the entire system of things is 
wrong,—wrong, false and hollow from its very base, 
but thou also perceivest the remedy. Of this know¬ 
ledge, neither infirmity, nor age, nor fraud, nor force, 
nor men, nor Angels can deprive thee. It is the First 
Truth, the germ of all truth: it shall grow, and 
ramify within thee, and be thy glory and thy happi¬ 
ness for ever. Intelligence is the soul’s true wealth : 


Chap. II.] 


THE ALPHA. 


27 


its only wealth. It is the only possession thou canst 
disseminate infinitely, yet still retain entire. 

“ But darest thou,—for there is danger in it, darest 
thou, Ramus Randolph, disseminate this truth ? 
Darest thou attempt to teach an ignorant, reckless, 
priest-deluded, mammon-serving world this only way 
to Happiness and Heaven ? I conjure thee to accept 
the mission. Why, thou wilt know hereafter. Tell 
mankind that the prolific parent of all Evil is Igno¬ 
rance : that Knowledge is the only Good : that the 
happiness of Heaven is unattainable save through the 
Intellect; and that to pursue any other means for its 
attainment is but mockery and delusion. But assure 
thyself that Bigotry will have its sacrifice : Power, 
its revenge ; for Ignorance, which is necessarily igno¬ 
rant of its ignorance, and believes itself to be wise, 
is blind: it is also cruel and vindictive. The Church 
shall anathematize thee : the lynx-eyed Law shall set 
its myrmidons to dog thee: Scribblers shall traduce 
thee; and that satire on Civilization,—the brute- 
visaged crowd, shall spit upon thy garments in the 
public thoroughfares. Thou shalt be denounced as 
heathen, blasphemer, heretic. In the midst of this 
opprobrium thou shalt die. But ages hence, like the 
fabled Phoenix, thy spirit shall arise from out thy 
ashes, and millions of kindred minds shall bless thee 
as a martyr of the greatest Truth that ever was proved 
and promulgated to the world. Thou shalt sow the 
seeds of a world-wide reformation; and, Ramus, they 
shall grow ! Art thou content ? Shall I go on ?” 

I silently assented. I was all beatitude. I felt the 
whole of the momentous truth. The minutely-painted 
danger connected with its dissemination had no ter¬ 
rors. My blessedness was too great for words. As 
if moved by the same involuntary impulse we rose 
together, and with noiseless tread walked to and fro 
amongst the heather. The agitation of my spirits 


28 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part I. 


gradually subsided, and I experienced an unspeakable 
calm. Then all the long-departed freshness and buoy¬ 
ancy of my youth came over me; and my busy, 
thoughtful, anxious life appeared to pass before me 
like a feverish dream. I reviewed it. There was but 
one phase of it that did not chill me: I had erred in 
everything but love. This was the rainbow of my 
life, spanning my whole existence: it seemed made 
of tears! My companion was similarly engaged 
during the time occupied by niv reverie, and similarly 
affected by the retrospect. We did not speak. We 
had no need of words, or looks, or signs. We read 
each other’s thoughts by sympathy. We were like 
two happy children whom care had never crossed, 
whom evil thoughts had never entered, whom sin had 
never tainted, all simplicity, all hope, all gladness— 
but with this difference—WE knew that we were 
happy. We felt the beneficent purpose of the painful 
turmoil to which humanity is subject. We felt that 
erring man might be hereafter happier than the Angels 
who (perhaps) have never erred, and never tasted 
sorrow: for just as little children are happy, and 
know it not, so might the Angels be : but he who has 
known care, must of necessity be conscious of his 
after-life felicity. Who can doubt but that the Angels 
have been, aforetime, creatures of earth, and have 
erred and known sorrow, for otherwise they know 
not their beatitude; and that which they know not is 
to them as nothing. Without this consciousness, this 
knowledge, what were existence ? what were happi¬ 
ness ? Whilst to toil for it, suffer for it, die for it, 
and to reach it in its fulness by this suffering and toil, 
who can speak, who can imagine the sum of its frui¬ 
tion ? God, who knows all things, whose Intelligence 
is as boundless as His power, knew from the be¬ 
ginning, that by contrast only can his creatures know 
felicity; and, hence, to people his universal heaven 


Chap. IT.] 


THE ALPHA. 


29 


with Intelligences who should be conscious of their 
blissfulness, He created them ignorant, and subjected 
them to the cares which spring from error, that as 
they grew intelligent enough to be happy, the very 
knowledge of previous misery might enhance their 
fruition. Can there be a higher, can there be a more 
beneficent purpose in the sublunary probation of 
mankind than this ? Reader ! can there be another ? 
Such were the thoughts that occupied me whilst 
the mysterious stranger and myself walked up and 
down beneath the slanting sunrays. At length I 
said:— 

“ But, my dear Mentor, what has become of the 
many millions of souls, or sparks of Divinity, which 
in the baby-turmoil of the world have added nothing 
to their being ?” 

He replied:— 

“ As their material bodies returned to the earth, so 
these rays of Divinity, thus rendered incapable of an 
independent existence, have been absorbed into the 
Infinite from which they first proceeded ; parting with 
their individuality, just as drops of rain lose their 
identity in the ocean. That which knows nothing has 
nothing to remember, and is as it were not. To thee, 
thy physical body were as nothing wert thou un¬ 
conscious of its existence : and without a similar 
knowledge of thy spiritual being, to thee it were 
non-existent. To comprehend the nature of Deity, 
and of our separate selves, is to create a knowledge 
of our own identity: and the knowledge which en¬ 
sures that identity, is that which shows us what we 
are, and teaches us the purpose of our being. 
Without this knowledge the identity would be im¬ 
possible, and our souls would be as though they were 
not. To exist, absolutely, is to be conscious of our 
existence ; and to maintain and enjoy existence, we 
must obtain that knowledge which is the germ and 


30 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part I. 


test of all knowledge. Well might the old prophet 
exclaim in the name of the Deity :— 

“ My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” 

But time flies: listen I pray thee, and answer not: 
I must away at sun-down.” 

We were again seated,—Dionysius and myself,— 
and the same calm, passionless expression that cha¬ 
racterised his countenance at first, again solicited and 
compelled attention. What he said will be related in 
the following chapter. 


Chap. III.] 


THE ALPHA. 


31 


CHAPTER TIL 

THE REVELATION CONTINUED. 

“What has been accomplished in the science of 
Mind ? absolutely nothing ! The dreamy labours of 
the metaphysician have been worse than useless. The 
mental philosopher has never penetrated to the root 
of his subject. Observing only the superficies, he has 
amused himself with subtleties, and plunged both his 
reader and himself into deeper darkness. And what 
is the consequence ? Why, that one-half the world 
believes that a man is so much animated dirt pro¬ 
duced by chance, whilst the other half clings to the 
opposite belief by a tiny tether of hope so frail and 
full of fear that men shudder when they think of it, 
and take refuge in any occupation that brings oblivi¬ 
ousness : and thus a race of Immortals steal abjectly 
through the world with less of dignity than the brutes 
that browse upon the mountains ! I know how much 
these melancholy facts have weighed upon thy spirit 
and chilled the life-blood in thy heart: but be of 
good cheer: from this hour thou at least shalt be 
happy, and thy all-loving spirit dare to look abroad 
around creation, and hold converse with the Unseen. 

“There are not two Principles in nature each 
warring with the other: there is but one, and that 
is infinitely Good. What men call Evil is not Evil: 
it is the inconvenience caused by Ignorance, warning 
them to be wise, and has within it the seeds of its 
own destruction. It is not Good which causes Evil ; 
but blind Ignorance, and purblind Error only. It is 
not Good that Audacity grasps at through its crimes; 


32 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part I. 


but something which Ignorance has misnamed a Good, 
and cherishes as a Good:—the owner and the thief 
are both mistaken. Evil has no potency except 
against itself. The conflict thou perceivest around 
thee is that of Evil fighting against Evil: the greater 
evil warring with the less: now this is uppermost, 
now that, in endless round. Against positive Good, 
Evil is impotent. Until it can pluck a planet from 
the sky; or stay the earth’s fertility; or hush the 
voice of nature, which in every blade of grass pro¬ 
claims the Deity, it cannot conquer Good. 

“ What an immense mass of this evil of man’s own 
making exists, and ramifies through the ever-entan¬ 
gling medley of interests, and expedients, and anta¬ 
gonisms misnamed Society! But Socialism is not 
antagonism. Selfishness, the principle of Barbarism, 
cannot be the basis of civilized society. In a state 
of nature Self is everything, and Force is law. 
Christianism, stripped of its mysteries, is the true 
principle of the social system. The civilization that 
men boast of is only barbarism reduced to a system. 
Men, at present, are tamed savages: the powerful 
kept tame by what they have ; the feeble, by what 
they want. The powerful are said to commit crimes 
when they overpass the boundaries of Law to gratify 
their savage rapacity: the weak, when they overleap 
the barriers to make reprisals, or to take revenge. 
Before Man can shake off the savage, he must subdue 
the animal: not alone by quitting the woods to live 
in palaces; by cultivating the soil, by making laws, 
and by acquainting himself with sciences and arts to 
pamper his animalism more conveniently and effec¬ 
tually ; but by subduing his lower instincts, cultiva¬ 
ting his God-like Intellect, and erecting society and 
civilization on the broad and ever-enlarging basis of 
his spiritual nature. 

“ Man is an embryo Intelligence; the Angel and 


Chap. III.] 


THE ALPHA. 


33 


the Animal conjoined. What he adds to his physical 
stature he obtains from the material earth and air; 
and back to these every particle of his bulk returns. 
But the Mind’s nutriment, Knowledge, is as imma¬ 
terial as itself, and both are eternal of necessity. 
The fair temple that enshrined the Soul of thy soul’s 
idol, by change and subdivision shall perish utterly : 
but the Idea which represents her in thy memory 
shall remain entire when suns and systems shall be 
wrecks. Man is related to Deity by Soul ; and towards 
deific perfection he advances as he acquires Intelli¬ 
gence. His Virtues and his Religion (as certain acts 
and certain ceremonies are termed), cannot advance 
him a step; but, like his Vices and his Crimes, they 
will retard him in the exact ratio of his Ignorance. 
All Good is, therefore, resolvable into Intelligence, 
and all which bears the name of Evil, into Ignorance. 
Intelligence is an entity, the first Principle, the great 
First Cause of all things, or Deity. Ignorance is a 
negation; and, hence, all the abstractions which have 
their ideal existence in the circumstances supposed to 
be produced by the negation, are negations also. 
Let Knowledge progress on Earth, and in the other 
stages of the soul’s existence, until perfect Intelli¬ 
gence is attained; and the virtues and moralities 
cease to exist so much as in idea, or are absorbed and 
swallowed up in the Intelligence, which is perfection— 
the Alpha which knows no end. Man has no moral 
nature: no immoral nature. His Soul is one and 
indivisible : it has no qualities or attributes whether 
good or evil. It is an intelligent Principle, emana¬ 
ting from Deity, capable of Intelligence, and needing 
it; nor is there aught else to need or to acquire but 
Intelligence; which to have in its entiety, is to have 
everything. All terms made use of to denote qualities 
in Ethics, Metaphysics, and Religion, are terms only: 
search for the Qualities they are supposed to repre- 


34 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part I. 


sent, and you find them to be unrealities, notions, 
nothing. A human soul in a human body, may be 
more or less intelligent; which is synonymous with 
more or less Perfect, more or less Happy; but it 
cannot be essentially better or holier than another. 
What the Metaphysicians denominate qualities of 
mind are only phases or modes of the Soul's intelli¬ 
gence : thus, Judgment is the seeking after knowledge 
through the process of comparison; Imagination, by 
the swifter, but less certain, process of assumption. 
They are modes of intelligent action, not separate 
qualities or attributes. All Morality, all Virtue, is 
conventional. The Virtues and the Moralities exist 
by reason of their contraries; and these chiefly by 
reason of human usages and laws, which result from 
human ignorance. Metaphysicians and Philosophers 
know this, or they do not know it. If they know it, 
their teachings are dishonest frauds: if they do not 
know it, they are laborious blunders: in either case 
they are false, and worse than useless. Thus, on a 
basis of sand is built the world's Philosophy, and its 
wisest men are but much-reasoning fools ; its best, 
but well-intentioned ones. 

“ There is more Quixotism in the world than the 
world in general is aware of. Assaulting windmills, 
warring with puppets, and with flocks of sheep, are 
not the only phases of the quixotic malady. To tilt 
with a windmill is not more insane, than to rush 
armed with mail and lance against a shadow. What 
crusades have been undertaken against ‘ Sin ! 5 And 
what desperate battles are still fought with its reputed 
Father! How many ponderous volumes have been 
indited to prove the justice of the justice which damns 
without redemption impossible belief! on Mercy, 
which can be purchased by a death-bed prayer! and 
on £ Grace,' which indeed, ‘ passeth all understand¬ 
ing !' Oh, Ramus ! to what shifts will fraud and 


ClIAP. III.] 


THE ALPHA. 


35 


ignorance resort ! and to what profanity ! What 
superhuman efforts have been made, by well-inten¬ 
tioned men, to give perpetuity to virtue and morality 
which should not be, and which cannot be without 
giving eternal duration to their opposites ! This is 
but engrafting flowers on the stems of weeds; nay, 
rearing and nurturing the noxious nightshade because 
it bears a flower ! 

“ Did men but know how ignorant they are ; how 
vapoury all their ‘ Learning ; 9 how profane their 
fancied piety; it would be the first step to real 
knowledge. I charge thee, Ramus, teach them! 
Lead them to what is true by showing them what is 
false. Grey-haired experience in the things which 
pass for wisdom, is full of sage precepts to the young. 

‘ This path/ it tells them, ‘ is safe and pleasant, that, 
slippery, and full of pitfalls/ But youth seldom 
believes, and never knows, the value of these precepts 
until it has actually experienced the evils it is coun¬ 
selled to avoid. As long as there is doubt there is 
liability to error: and as long as the system of things 
is false, and wrong is ‘ profitable/ the wisest precepts 
will be thrown away. Not precepts do men want 
but knowledge : not counsel, but enlightenment. 

“ The Virtues and the Moralities exist by reason of 
their opposites. But for Vice, the product of Igno¬ 
rance, Virtue could not be conceived of. But for their 
ill-favoured opposites, Justice, Mercy, Goodness, Truth 
could have no conceivable existence. They are human 
all: they belong to the atmosphere of Error: there 
is nothing Divine about them; and beyond the con¬ 
fines of Ignorance they cannot be. The more need 
there is of Benevolence, the more Misery must exist 
for Benevolence to alleviate : the greater necessity 
there is for the exercise of the Virtues, the more 
must Vice abound. If the Deity could find pleasure 
in human Virtue, Vice would be pleasing too ! The 
d 2 


36 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part I. 


whole are human, Ramus; ancl the existence of the 
one gives existence to the others, and Ignorance is the 
parent of them all. To suppose Virtue to be Happi¬ 
ness or the ultimatum of man’s attainable perfection, 
were to suppose a necessity for Vice, and induce the 
belief that one portion of mankind must be sacrificed 
that the other portion might be saved! a human 
thought, and very blasphemous ! I charge thee, blot 
it out ! Let the world cherish its Virtues as long as 
its Ignorance generates its crimes : but let it strive 
manfully to rid itself of all; for all are evidences of 
its Ignorance, and marks of its dishonour. Laws 
will never repress a tithe of the crimes they foster 
and originate: but until Laws grow equitable, let the 
Moralities be encouraged; let the Virtues minister 
to the defrauded multitude ; let mercy look gently 
on their crimes, and Benevolence pour balm upon 
their miseries. Thousands of men made miserable, 
systematically made miserable, that a few units 
amongst them might be happy ! The tiniest moss that 
vegetates beside thee, Ramus, and drinks its needful 
portion of the dews and rain, protests against such 
impious profanation ! 

“When humanity shall take its stand upon its 
spiritual nature; when men shall use their privilege 
of knowing , and their power of doing , in the construc¬ 
tion of their social institutions, and, on the plan of 
nature, use the most perfect means attainable by their 
reason, to rational and righteous ends, Crime shall 
cease and Evil be extinguished ; Heaven shall be on 
Earth; and God and Angels dwell with man : and 
all this, without a mystery ; for Intelligence shall 
convert Earth into a Paradise, as Ignorance has here¬ 
tofore transformed it to a Hell. Without a miracle, 
without a mystery, shall all this be accomplished. 

“ Wherever there is Mystery there is Ignorance or 
Eraud. Ubiquity, Omnipotence, Omniscience, Eter- 


Chap. III.] 


THE ALPHA. 


37 


nity ; these are not mysteries, no more than the whole 
being greater than a part is a mystery. The only mys¬ 
tery thy flesh-encumbered mind will never fathom, is 
how Mind created Matter, and by an act of Will linked 
it to laws unvarying and eternal. But to infinite 
Intelligence this is not a mystery. Whatever is, and 
how it came to be, is known to the Deity that willed 
its being. How Intelligence multiplies itself without 
sensible addition, and subdivides itself without the 
smallest loss, thou hast seen : but how it first created 
itself, or whence proceeded; and how out of an im¬ 
ponderable Idea it created ponderable Matter, is 
knowledge for another state of thy existence, a hap¬ 
piness to come. 

“ To foreknow all things absolutely, that is, prior to 
their existence, is to be Omniscient, omnipotent, om¬ 
nipresent, and eternal. Such, of necessity, is Deity ; 
therefore Deity is Prescient Intelligence, which 
necessarily includes Conscious Intelligence, or the 
knowledge of things already in existence, and the 
results of causes already in operation. In this latter 
mode of Intelligence Man is permitted to participate, 
to the extent of his ability to see and. comprehend the 
created objects around him, and to discover and com¬ 
prehend the causes which produce mutation in the 
modes of their existence : in other words, the human 
soul is an Intelligent Principle, capable of Conscious 
Intelligence. To create everything is first to fore¬ 
know everything : and to know all created things, 
and the Laws which regulate and modify their ex¬ 
istence, is to be with and in all things eternally. This 
is omnipresence, this is omniscience. Thus, with 
Deity, the Past and the Puture are included in the 
Present, and Eternity is concentrated in a point! 
These hitherto mysterious terms are mysteries no 
longer. No longer is Man a mystery to himself: no 
longer is Deity a mystery to Man. To perceive this, 


38 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part I. 


Ramus, is Intelligence identical with the Conscious 
Intelligence of the Deity: and this is thy Happiness 
now: and, in the language of the Oriental Job, thou 
may’st truly say : ‘ Though worms shall destroy this 
body, in my flesh shall I see God! ’ for knowing what 
thou knowest, even now thou beholdest Deity! with 
thy awakened soul, with that deific part of thee—thy 
conscious Intelligence, thou already perceivest Him 
in whose spiritual likeness thou wert made ! 

“ A law once promulgated by Intelligence which 
cannot err, is immutable, and subject to no after¬ 
regulation, because needing none. Whatever its 
results, they are foreknown and right. 

“ Creative, or Prescient, Intelligence is necessarily 
infinite; infinite in duration, and infinite in power: 
with it, to will is synonymous with to do. 

“ It is impossible that anything but Intelligence 
can have, or exercise, a Will. Absolute Will is 
synonymous with Deity : in the human soul, from 
the paucity of its knowledge, Will is synonymous 
with Desire. Man has some intelligence : he has, 
consequently, an independent will, limited in its 
capability of action to the amount of his acquired 
knowledge, and the necessities of his present existence. 
His will is, consequently, of the nature of Desire, 
capable of action proportionate to his limited know¬ 
ledge, to his human condition, and to his sublunary 
wants. His will has a wide circle for its operations : 
it has the entire Earth for its dominion. It is, of 
course, restrained in its activity by the immutable 
laws, to which, as an animal, he is subject. He is 
featherless, and cannot fly: he is finiess, and cannot 
inhabit the waters: he is vulnerable, and may be 
wounded: he is mortal, and must die. But the laws 
which limit him as an animal, can scarcely be said to 
set any bounds to the activity of his intellect. Within 
the limits of the laws which circumscribe the will ac- 


Chap. III.] 


THE ALPHA. 


39 


corded to his double nature, he is absolute. He is, 
however, but an embryo Intelligence, and his Will, 
regulated by his Reason, in other words, by his im¬ 
perfect knowledge, is liable to Error; consequently 
lie has erred; and this fabric of Good and Evil, 
Virtue and Vice, Justice and Injustice, mystic Re¬ 
ligion with its punishments and rewards, Poverty, 
Animalism, Misery, and Crime, are the natural and 
necessary consequences. 

“ His original error sprung from an incorrect no¬ 
tion of the Deity, which still continues; and an 
almost total ignorance, which also still continues—of 
himself. This ignorance led him to adopt a social 
basis consonant with his animal nature, but altogether 
inconsistent with his intellectual nature and wants, 
and his immortality. Man the Animal, having animal 
necessities, capable of physical power, and physical 
enjoyment, but ignorant of his spiritual relationship 
and destiny, naturally adopted brute force as the basis 
of his social institutions. With the Strong, Might 
became Right. With the Weak, Obedience became a 
Virtue, and all resistance to Power was denominated 
Crime. But, were there no Ignorance there 

COULD BE NO ERROR: WERE SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS 
RATIONAL AND JUST THERE COULD BE NO CRIME. 

“ Man, however, need not be all-wise to be just; 
nor need he be errorless to be happy. But before he 
can be either just or happy, he must rid himself of all 
Selfishness; he must know what he is ; and compre¬ 
hend the object of his being. To know that God is 
infinite Intelligence; that He is all we can conceive 
of perfection because He is all-intelligent; to know 
that Man himself is an embryo Intelligence, inca¬ 
pable of any acquisition on earth but knowledge; 
to know that to increase in knowledge is to make 
progress towards perfection and happiness, is know¬ 
ledge sufficient in itself, when universally recognised, 


40 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part I. 


to correct his social error, to banish crime, to anni¬ 
hilate evil, and to regenerate mankind. Whatever 
knowledge is based on the fundamental principle in¬ 
volved in the proposition just enunciated, is know¬ 
ledge, positive, progressive, and abiding. Whatever 
of men’s knowings want this basis, is transitory, 
retrograde, and false. 

“ The world is arriving at adolescence, and must 
begin to unlearn the errors of its youth. The helpless¬ 
ness of its infancy, the frowardness of its childhood, 
the lawless petulancy of its youth, have passed away: 
it is time to settle down to serious studies, and make 
some use of the ill-understood lessons it has so long 
been conning over in the school of adversity. The 
animal has been developed: its prowess, its courage, 
its capability of endurance have been tried: let it 
begin to rely on its Intellect; let it cultivate the 
Angel portion of its nature, and depress the over¬ 
grown grossness of the brute: let the tall pile of its 
recorded indiscretions be to it as a beacon on a 
sunken rock: let Reason sit on the prow of the weather¬ 
beaten bark, and Love direct the helm ; then, and 
not till then, shall the haven of peace, and the longed- 
for land of promised Happiness be reached. Then 
shall come, not the sensual joys of the Mussulman’s 
heaven, nor the misanthropic gloom of the Quietists, 
nor the dismal paradise of the Latter-day Saints, nor 
the exclusive Eden of self-righteous bigots of any 
sect or creed; but the happiness-producing reign of 
Intellect, the true Millennium of Mind,—the spiritual 
sovereignty of Christian Love. 

“ To get rid of the ever-increasing mass of igno¬ 
rance-created evil, which, like a dense cloud over¬ 
spans the entire earth—from this to the Antipodes, 
from the Antipodes onward again to this—hindering 
the genial rays of Truth from smiling on the family 
of men, you must banish Ignorance, let light upon 


Chap. III.] 


THE ALPHA. 


41 


the ‘masses/ drop mysticism, and be rational. It is 
worse than useless to have recourse to nostrums, 
conjurations, charms : the only Exorcist is Knowledge. 
The hair-splitting quiddities of the Logicians and 
Philosophers; the solemn profundities of Hypocrisy 
and Cant, must cease. These are the blights and 
mildews which prevent the Amaranth from bursting 
into bloom. The time has come to sweep away the 
pestilence. It is the proper advent of a new Truth,— 
of that Truth which alone has power to dispel the 
circumambient, blighting, desolating darkness. I 
charge thee, Ramus, give it wings ! My voice is but 
an echo! As our shadows lengthen our existence 
wanes : be thou my voice when 1 am shadowless, and 
propagate the Truth I came to teach thee 1 Thousands 
of thinking men have, at this very time, some dim 
foreshadowings of this Truth. There is a craving 
for it in the disturbed and restless minds of multi¬ 
tudes. The time has come when it might be pro¬ 
pounded. It might take ages to work its way to the 
depths of abjectness, and to the heights of power, 
but this is its proper advent. Evil is at its acme; 
Crime has reached its climax: Mind is at work: the 
time is pregnant with change : the period of mum¬ 
mery is passing by: the hollowness of forms and 
ceremonies is felt: Religion is about to drop its 
mysteries and be rational: to be practical, instead of 
shrouding its few and simple precepts in dark 
enigmas, and the cabalistic language of imposture. 
Be fearless. Tell robed and ermined Power, sur¬ 
rounded though it be by guards, and fawned on by 
Obsequiousness, that its Justice is injustice, tainted 
at its very base. Tell solemn Sapience that it is not 
wise. Tell Virtue that it subsists on Vice. Tell 
Piety that it is Self-deception. Tell Moralists to go 
to school. Tell the deluded multitude to know 
themselves if they would terminate their miseries. 


42 


THE ALPHA. 


[Fjrt I. 


“ Not idly didst thou ask thyself whilst bending 
o’er this solitary heather, ‘What is Beauty?’ Not 
idly, nor in vain. If Beauty dwell in this little 
flower, what is it? If its beauty consist not in 
the perfect adaptation of means to the end sought 
to be attained by its existence, it has no beauty: 
and if it does consist in this, still it has none; for 
it is the work of God; and to acknowledge its 
paternity is to admit its perfection. Perfection 
excludes all notion of ugliness, and has no need of 
any contradistinguishing appellation to describe it. 
The term Beauty is, therefore, conventional, and 
Man arrives at a notion of it through its opposite; 
and of this, through the imperfection or paucity of 
his knowledge. Perfection is only another name for 
the handiwork of God; and Beauty, for Perfection. 
It is only when we have no appreciation of the ex¬ 
quisite adaptation of an object to the end it serves 
in the magnificent scheme of Creation, that we 
pronounce it ugly. Whenever we perceive de¬ 
formity in a natural object, or anything mean, 
or loathsome, or impure, we are but viewing, 
as in a glass, the reflex of our own Ignorance. 
Our preferences and dislikes have their origin in 
our ability or inability to recognise perfection; 
and in those circumstances in objects which more 
readily enable us to gratify our inherent desire to 
know. This last is the true but hitherto un¬ 
recognised basis of all conventional beauty. Meta¬ 
physicians finding no definable beauty in the 
works of Nature, explain that certain circum¬ 
stances in objects produce in the mind, after an 
unsettled and lawless manner, an arbitrary bias, 
an accidental preference: this preference or bias, 
they say, is an emotion, a pleasure-giving feeling; 
and this feeling , they tell us, is Beauty. Here 
they stop. They do not tell us to what circumstance 


Chap. Ill*] 


THE ALPHA. 


43 


or to wliat combination of circumstances in objects 
this feeling is to be referred; and, not affording 
this information, they afford none. Precisely 
of the same value is all their teaching. To 
have gone further they must have touched the 
First Principle, and we should have had philosophy 
instead of the cobweb tissue of which even modern 
metaphysics is composed. 

“ There is nothing purposeless in nature, and, 
hence, no natural bias of the mind is purposeless. 
In the Forms of things the mind has a bias towards 
curves. But why ? There are many reasons. 
I will mention one. Man cannot comprehend 
infinity: nor can he derive pleasure from what 
he cannot comprehend. A straight line has in it 
the 'principle of infinitude: unbroken it is infinite. 
The mind strives to grasp it, and is repulsed. 
There is more of awe than pleasure in this repulse. 
From its interminable vastness we cannot take 
in the thought: we are doomed to joyless ignorance. 
The emotion we experience is Sublimity. Whatever 
awakens the feeling, or impresses us with the idea, 
of undefined, or defineless, immensity is sublime. 
Of this the straight line is suggestive; hence, it 
affords the mind less satisfaction than the curve; 
and for this reason,—the mind can comprehend 
the circle. No matter how immense it be, the 
mind can travel round it. The process is easy. 
There is something cut out from space; something 
we can comprehend and know. This is the source 
and purpose of the bias. Every natural bias of the 
mind has the same tendency: — it yearns to 
know. 

“ In the colours of things, unbroken uniformity 
would be flatness, sameness, suggestive of infinity. 
The difficulty of isolating objects, and thus, of 
knowing them , would be immense. Colours obviate 


44 


THE ALPHA. 


[Pabt I. 


this difficulty; and those most distinguished by their 
brilliancy give a natural bias to the mind in their 
favour. This is the beneficent purpose of the bias. 

“ Sounds and Odours answer similar ends. As 
they tend to gratify the natural cravings of the 
soul for knowledge, and as they simplify the process, 
they are pleasure-giving. Link them by sameness to 
infinity, and they inspire awe. 

“ Wonder and Awe are the progeny of Ignorance. 
Mental pleasure is the invariable result of Know¬ 
ledge. The emotion we call Sublimity originates in 
Ignorance. The emotion which we have any rational 
authority to name Beauty, originates in those 
circumstances in all natural objects, which serve 
as means to the growth of our Intelligence. 

“All Nature woos mankind to know it, and thus 
to ascend to a closer communion with its Almighty 
Author. The flowers are not odorous, nor their 
forms and colours manifold, to delight the senses 
merely: the senses, as well as that innate feeling 
wffiich directs our preferences, are the appointed 
inlets of our knowledge; and these various circum¬ 
stances, the wooing aids to our perceptions. To 
convert the pleasure-giving means of knowledge into 
finalities is unmitigated sensualism;—an error to 
which even brute natures do not stoop. There is 
not, Ramus, a blade of grass that points to Heaven 
but bids thee be intelligent and happy. 

“ Knowledge amongst men may be positive or 
negative: thou hast the key to both. Positive 
Knowledge spiritualizes, ennobles, elevates, refines. 
Negative Knowledge sensualizes and degrades. 
Evil will no longer be a mystery to thee, nor 
Good elude thy search : nor shall the idea of two 
contending Principles in the world ever again 
throw gloom upon thy spirit, or shake thy trust 
in God. 


Chap III.] 


THE ALPHA. 


45 


“ The sun is sinking : let us arise. As from this 
eminence thou viewest the varied landscape, so, from 
an altitude of knowledge unreached till now, shalt 
thou cast thy mental eye over the outspread page 
of History, and by the steady light of Truth see 
clearly whence ruin came on empires; see from 
what single cause all the spurious systems of 
Civilization the world has known have crumbled 
into nothing. Thou shalt perceive in thy survey 
that wherever there is mystery there is fraud: 
wherever there is ignorance there is evil. Thou 
shalt see the emptiness of book-men’s learning, and 
how intellect weds itself to error. Thou shalt find 
that Law, the breath of Power, is based on selfish¬ 
ness ; and Government, the sinews of that Power,— 
on wrong. Thou shalt perceive that all the systems 
of Philosophy yet known to men are reared on false¬ 
hood : thou shalt supply a solid base of Truth. 
Thou shalt see in thy survey infinite perplexity, ever- 
involving involution: thou shalt restore simplicity. 
Out of this chaos of Ignorance and Evil shall proceed 
a universe of Intellect and Happiness. ‘Let there 
be light—and mysticism shall vanish, and Intelli¬ 
gence, like yon sun, cheer with its equitable radiance 
the entire family of men. Gaze on that glorious 
object, my dear Ramus, that its last ray may rest on 
thee, as now do my injunctions 1” 

He ceased. A cloud of deepest crimson, edged 
with gold, rose from the horizon o’er the half-sunk 
orb, and twilight took the place of day. I turned. 
My monitor had gone ! I was again alone ! Reader! 
was all this ecstacy? or was it real? It has been 
said :— 

“ Such bodiless creation, ecstacy 
Is very cuniring in.” 


46 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part I. 


CHAPTER IV. 

It was on the evening of the feast of St. Bartho¬ 
lomew that the mysterious communication narrated 
in the two preceding chapters was made to me. 
When the Revelation had ended and the sun had 
set, I found myself alone on the common amid the 
deepening twilight. I was in no haste to quit the 
spot sanctified by these revealings until the gathering 
darkness admonished to do so. In about a 
quarter of an hour I gained a footpath across the 
common which conducted to the public road. 
Quietly I pursued my way for several miles without 
meeting, as far as I remember, a living thing. The 
whole time I was entirely absorbed in my re¬ 
flections. 

Whether wonder at the strangeness of the events 
I had experienced, or the happiness they had pro¬ 
duced in me, was the predominant feeling, I know 
not; but just as I was entering a village through 
which I had to pass on my way home, the current 
of my thoughts was interrupted by the ringing out 
of the passing-bell which told of some world-weary 
brother having gone to his appointed rest; and I 
thought of the words of the mysterious Dionysius, 
—“ My voice is but an echo: as our shadows 
lengthen our existence wanes : be thou my voice 
when I am shadowless !” He had uttered these 
words while his shadow slept beside my own on the 
mossy greensward. Could it be his knell I was 
listening to ? 

It was late when I arrived at my quiet home. I 
was occupied until far beyond midnight recording 


Chap. IV.] 


THE ALPHA. 


47 


in my journal the strange incidents of the evening; 
and then, without taking any refreshment, I retired 
to rest and enjoyed a deep and refreshing sleep, un¬ 
broken even by a dream, until far into the following 
day. I awoke to the enjoyment of a new existence. 
To me the world was no longer the same world: at 
any rate I saw it through another medium. But 
though it seemed to me more miserable than 
formerly, I knew the cause of its miseries, and felt 
myself to be the repository of the secret of their 
cure. 

It was an awful happiness ; too great to bear alone; 
and I sighed for a friend to whom I could impart a 
portion of my responsibility. Such an one, out 
of a large circle of neglected acquaintances, I felt I 
had not; and I bore my secret about me with a 
fulness of enjoyment, that had but to pass the 
boundary on which it trembled to become suffering 
and pain. 

My feet still rested on the earth; but my head 
was in the clear sunshine far above the clouds. Below 
me were the tempests, and the murky atmosphere of 
error-encircled Man : above, and around me were the 
peaceful glories of an intellectual heaven ; and my 
busy spirit seemed to enjoy a blessed intercommunion 
with souls made perfect by Intelligence. I was in the 
world of humanity, but not of it. I seemed to have 
parted with the calculating turmoils of time, and to 
dwell already in the smooth current of ever-enlarging 
felicity, caused by ever-increasing knowledge. I 
occasionally cast my thoughts towards the earth, and 
sympathised with the victims of its thick-coming 
miseries; and, with the old leaven of superstitious 
earthliness about me, I sighed for the power to work 
a miracle for their enlightenment. I desired to 
breathe my spirit on the world, and convince it of 
its errors by an act of inspiration : and, for a brief 


48 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part I. 


space, I thought the thought of a calumniated writer, 
long since dead ; Oh, that the Deity had written his 
high behests on the face of the sun, that all men 
might know his will! But has he not, thought I, 
done more than this? Has he not implanted an 
inextinguishable desire for the one thing needful 
deep in the soul of every human being ? Has he not 
adopted the more gratifying mode of communicating 
his will ? not in a material form by writing on the 
sun, or arranging the stars into a luminous decalogue; 
not as man, the animal, communes with man, his 
brother animal, but as spirit communes with spirit ? 
Does it not say as loud as yearning soul can speak, 
and in an universal language which none who think 
can misinterpret: Know thyself: Know God : be 
intelligent, and be happy ? 

I reflected that although the Virtues and the 
Moralities, abstractedly, are nothing, that Happiness 
is a reality co-existent with Intelligence ; and that 
Intelligence must exist eternally, even though Matter, 
at the fiat of the Almighty, were again resolved into 
its single element; though it were again floating 
through space, imponderous, and without form ; subtle 
as electricity, which probably it is ;—for Matter must 
be One, and Infinite Intelligence, its soul. How 
either came to be , is of no consequence : enough for 
us, they are . Whether Matter, in its state of ultimate 
subdivision, thinks ; or whether in this subtle state it 
be but the assimilated agent of Infinite Intelligence, 
is of nd real importance to us now: yet still we would, 
all human as we are, push our investigations further 
if we could, nor leave even this stupendous truth 
unknown. How active, then, thought I, is that ever- 
living principle within us which prompts us to this 
discovery! and how besotted are mankind, how 
dulled their intellect by erroneous training and 
disuse, to need any other proof of what we are, of 


Chap. IV.] 


THE ALPHA. 


49 


what our business is on earth, and what is the end 
and purpose of our being! Still, alas ! these facts 
are unperceived. Not one in a million has proved 
them to himself; or, in himself, where only it can be 
found, has he ever dreamed of searching for the 
evidence. Long and anxiously I pondered on these 
things. How r , thought I, may these all-important 
truths be shown? how proved to the millions who 
have neither the desire (for it is dead), nor the 
aptitude, for the knowledge ;—who are only animally 
cognizant of things, but, mentally, are blind ? How 
shall one mind illuminate millions who are uncon¬ 
sciously enamoured with their darkness ? Spiritualize 
those who are proud of their animalism? elevate 
those who are satisfied wdth their degradation? In 
what form of words can this newly-acquired knowledge 
be made to permeate all mankind ? The responsibility 
seemed awful: the task too great to be attempted. 
An invisible power urged me onward: a growing 
sense of the difficulty restrained me. Should I 
abandon the task ? or, relying on the innate power of 
Truth, attempt it ? Thus I argued :—The blooming 
plant was once a tiny seed; the giant oak, an acorn : 
a grain of sand, the nucleus of a world : the greatest 
thing had a beginning. Had not my mentor, Diony¬ 
sius, likened the truth he set before me to a seed ? 
“ Thou shall plant it,” said he, “ and, Ramus, it shall 
grow.” I determined to attempt it; but, by what 
means I knew not. Whom, methought, am I ? 
Almost a stranger amongst my Species: a voluntary 
outcast of society, living apart even from my kindred 
and acquaintances, and perhaps,—for experience had 
not tested the fact—perhaps without a single friend ! 
There was sadness in the thought, but it was a 
momentary sadness. Like a cloudlet hurrying across 
the moon, this transient sadness overpassed my soul. 

I reflected that it might have been otherwise had I 


50 


THE ALPHA. 


[Paut I. 


married. Marriage has its consequences ; and these 
consequences are sometimes evil. I have known the 
very nature of a good man changed by marriage, that 
is, seemingly changed ; but the truth lies deeper : his 
nature struggled for a development which marriage 
checked. So gentle was the nature of poor Catholicus, 
that no sentient creature could suffer pain, nor any 
soul feel misery, but a sympathetic chord in his own 
soul was touched. Alas! to wish only a good wish 
for any other being than his wife was treason in her 
eyes: but Catholicus was a man , and though a kind 
one, he grew tyrannous in defence of his humanity. 
His life was infelicitous : his character was misunder¬ 
stood : he died mad: and Ignorance wrote his epitaph. 
How many of the inmates of Bedlam, past and 
present, have become demented from feelings and 
experiences akin to those of poor Catholicus ! I have 
sympathy with these madmen. Were the Avorld’s 
ways wiser than they are, these unfortunates had not 
gone mad. It is chiefly the most thoughtful and best- 
intentioned men amongst us that now become 
demented: men who think till they know not what 
to think, then, soul-sick, mope, or rave, or smile on 
vacancy till death enlightens them ! A chaos is theirs 
of glory and misery; particles of the inelfable light 
of Divinity glittering here and there amidst an ocean 
of gloom! the light supplied by nature interfused 
with the darkness supplied by authority, and called 
light. No marvel they are mad ! They are, however, 
wiser than the sane ; for they have seen that Evil is 
paramount on earth, and have had some luminous 
glimpses of a bright hereafter: and to both these 
experiences most of the sane are strangers. Sanity 
signifies an inordinate love of self. The wife of poor 
Catholicus was eminently sane, and as eminently 
short-sighted: she would have been more loved had 
her husband been permitted to bestow some of his 


Chap. IV.] 


THE ALPHA. 


51 


affection on his daughter or his dog. Touched with 
the fate of poor Catholicus, T rejoiced that I had not 
been married : I was happy in reflecting that probably 
I had no friend. If I had friends, thought I, if I had 
a particular predilection for a few amongst my species, 
I should of necessity have less active sympathy for the 
many : if I loved some in particular, the aggregate I 
could not love at all. It is assuredly better as it is. If 
I had preferences I must respect those preferences. 
If I w T ere swayed by individual friendships, I should 
have no power even to do right in opposition to their 
insidious influence. The greater duty would succumb 
to the lesser, and Wrong would have all the charms of 
Right. In sentiment it is an amiable, perhaps a 
natural weakness; but in action it is a pernicious 
thing. Let no man act through friendship, or through 
friendship, be debarred from action, if he would do 
the work assigned to him on earth! Every act of 
partial munificence, every act of personal regard, is a 
wrong felt and suffered somewhere. It is better, far 
better that I should have no friend, than that out of 
respect to my friend I should betray humanity. 1 
was happy that I had no friend. I was penetrated 
with an unspeakable, a deeply reverential thankfulness 
to the great Author of my being, that my love had a 
larger scope ; that my affections embraced the universe. 
Night and day, every moment of my existence, this 
thought of my duty, with its accompanying homage 
to Him who had endowed me with thought, was 
present with me; and was to me, and still is, the 
most sublime religion. Go where I would this un¬ 
utterable happiness attended me; and all I said and 
did, or desired to say and do, had reference to the 
one end I now so clearly saw before me. I felt to be 
above the reach of misfortune, and that Evil was 
powerless to harm me; and I thought, how blessed 
the time when there shall be no evil! 


52 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part I. 


Days and weeks flew noiseless by; moons waxed 
and waned; but my momentous secret still slept 
untold. Prudence, not selfish fear, restrained its 
utterance. What is ill-done were better undone. If 
my felicity had a dash of misery in it, it proceeded 
from a growing sense of my inability to grapple with 
an evil which taints, and intertwines itself with every¬ 
thing, and has a power, torpedo-like, to paralyse the 
arm of him, who, with a hostile purpose, ventures 
but to touch it. 

For months I resolved on commencing my hopeless 
task, yet still did nothing. In order to fix and con¬ 
centrate my thoughts, I sometimes attempted to read: 
but reading had lost its relish. Books were full of 
absurdities; more ignorant, most of them, than the 
illiterate beings whom the selfish policy of society 
shuts out from their perusal. Newspapers were but 
the heartless records of iniquity; the glass in which 
an ignorant world might view the reflex of its igno¬ 
rance. Whether the records of the Police Court, or 
the records of the Imperial Parliament, were the more 
sickening I know not; but the motives of all the 
actors in the drama of life, from the pickpocket to 
the prime minister, seemed to me to be equally false. 
Wherever I directed my attention the result was the 
same. All the labours of men had taken the wrong 
direction: they were either purposeless, or their 
purpose wrong. I mixed more with mankind, and 
calmly observed whatever was passing around me. 
Everywhere there was intense activity, ceaseless aspir¬ 
ings, but all to a wrong end. If, thought I, the 
w r hole mass were inert or sluggish, “ a little leaven 
might leaven the entire lump : ” but, in full activity, 
who shall attempt to turn it in its course, check its 
headlong wilfulness, and guide it to its good P 

About a month after the event which produced the 
state of mind I have been describing, I became ac- 


Chap. IV.] 


THE ALPHA. 


53 


quainted, how it matters not—with the following cir¬ 
cumstances. 

At sunset, on the day of the feast of Saint Bar¬ 
tholomew, at his residence in Fulham, died the Re¬ 
verend Dionysius Lackland; a man whose life had 
been consumed in study, and whose one object in 
living was to do good. He would probably have 
lived longer had his object been really attainable, and 
his labours less perplexing. But ever scrutinizing 
his own actions, noting their origin and following 
them into their more distant consequences, he per¬ 
ceived that his best actions sometimes originated in 
weakness, and frequently resulted in evil; whilst evil, 
whether intentional or otherwise, he observed, not 
less frequently conduced to some more ultimate good : 
in short, that the actions of men, in the abstract, are 
neither good nor bad : but that they are an unbroken 
chain of consequences and causes with which human 
misery is most mysteriously connected. To lessen 
the sum of this suffering was his aim; but every act 
was manifold, not single in its consequences: here it 
was the remedy of an evil; there its cause: and 
where would its influence, either for good or evil, 
cease to operate ? Would happiness or misery pre¬ 
ponderate in the endless progress of its consequences ? 
Flow, said he, should any act of a human being be 
uniformly beneficent, when the very rain of Heaven 
which fertilizes my fields, deluges my neighbour’s 
pastures and drowns his flock? Are Good and Evil 
names alone, and not realities ? Could we have a 
sense of either if we were wise? During the latter 
years of his life he had devoted himself entirely to 
study with the view to disentangle these perplexities, 
and discover the source of these, to him, humiliating 
contradictions : and from this reason, as well as from 
certain conscientious motives, he had for several years 
relinquished his clerical ministrations. To be a 


54 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part I. 


useful servant of God, he felt he ought to know 
something of the laws of God ; to assume to be His 
ordained Minister, he conceived that he ought to be 
more deeply initiated than other men in the latent 
mysteries of his will: to be a Shepherd, that he 
should know something of the true nature and ne¬ 
cessities of his flock. He was a “ Learned” man ; 
but with all his learning, he felt himself to be as in¬ 
capable of distinguishing between Good and Evil as 
the most ignorant over whom he was exercising a 
teachership. He examined his credentials, and doubt¬ 
ing of their genuineness, he was constrained to lay 
aside the arrogant title of “ One of God’s vicegerents 
here on earth.” He had seen much, travelled much, 
read much, conversed much, and deeply had he me¬ 
ditated on all: indeed, few men were more conversant 
with all the surface-matters which make up the showy 
sum of human knowledge than Dionysius Lackland; 
but, that Good and Evil should be so inextricably 
interwoven, perplexed him greatly; his health failed 
him, he became a recluse, and was seldom seen 
beyond the somewhat narrow limits of his own house 
and grounds. His only daughter, Ellen, Avas his sole 
companion ; and through her agency nearly all his 
communications with the outward world were made. 
She was the instrument of his charities, the reposi¬ 
tory of his thoughts, the manager of his household, 
and the entertainer of his casual guests. Sometimes, 
his amanuensis; sometimes she was to him Avhat the 
youthful David was to Saul, the exorcist of his me¬ 
lancholy, and would charm away his sadness on the 
harp. 

It was the opinion of Dionysius Lackland that he 
who prevents human suffering, by removing the causes 
of misery, is a greater benefactor to his race than he 
who spends his fortune to relieve it, and hopes by his 
charity to diminish its amount. He was himself a 


Chap. IV.] 


THE ALPHA. 


55 


Howard; but his aim was to do away with all need 
of philanthropy. He held that Benevolence is as dis¬ 
graceful to society as Crime, and that both are equal 
evidences of a world-spanning injustice. It was to 
demonstrate these somewhat startling positions, and 
to establish them on the solid basis of an all-embracing 
Truth, that the labour of the latter portion of his 
life had been devoted. His health, which had always 
been delicate, gave way, and he died, leaving the 
accomplishment of the task, as well as the guardian¬ 
ship of his daughter, to me. The task is before 
me, and the maiden at this moment by my side. 

Bor form’s sake I will now acquaint thee, friend 
reader, with a circumstance which thou hast anti¬ 
cipated already, notwithstanding that I have feebly 
affected the craft of the novelist with a view to a 
surprise: but as the events of my life have been 
few, and none of them very romantic, I expect thy 
forgiveness that I have attempted to make the most 
of this.—Ellen Lackland is my niece ; Dionysius, 
my long-lost brother; and the long-ago deceased 
mother of Ellen, the Ellen Raymond of my early years, 
whose ideal I had so long cherished as my soul’s 
secret idol, and who more than lives again in Ellen 
Randolph. Ellen is a girl in years, but more than a 
woman in intelligence and unselfish catholicity of 
mind. She has been nursed and instructed in a 
purer knowledge than falls to the lot of the generality 
of the daughters of men, and inherits a nature worthy 
of the teaching she has received. 

Her father, Raphael Randolph, (or if the reader 
pleases, Dionysius Lackland,) had conceived the idea 
of a new Philosophy for mankind; and if not of a new 
Religion, such a purification of the old as would ren¬ 
der its practice new, whatever may be the antiquity 
or origin of its leading precepts. A mass of notes 
without order or arrangement,—the occasional jot- 


56 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part I. 


tings down of ideas for the illustration of a system yet 
in embryo in his own mind, is all the assistance 
derivable from his papers. These are now in my pos¬ 
session, and the key to them—the mysterious com¬ 
munication made to me on the evening of the feast of 
Saint Bartholemew, the day of my brother’s death. 

The mode of this communication, whether it was 
what is called “ second sight” that I experienced; 
or a trance, or a reverie, or a dream, or a ghostly 
visitation, I must leave to the sagacity of others to 
determine. The believers in apparitions and the 
supernatural visits by the dying to their absent friends, 
so often recorded, and so credibly attested, will most 
likely incline to this latter suggestion, when I shall 
have related the additional circumstances which in¬ 
vests this opinion with an air of probability; for, 
certainly, the power of long-pent-up affection, a strong 
will, and the accomplishment of a dearly-cherished 
object, are more than the usual superinducing causes 
generally urged by way of accounting for such out-of¬ 
nature occurrences. 

He had said in the morning that he should die at 
sunset; and as the evening approached, he was, by 
his own wish, placed in his chair at the open window 
of his apartment, that, as he said, he might, for the 
last time, see the sun go down, and feel its warm rays 
play about him. His daughter sat beside him in the 
sunbeams. He now and then conversed with her on 
the subject of his translation until he fell into a sleep, 
calm as the slumbers of an infant when the Angels 
are whispering spirit-stories to its soul. At sunset he 
awoke, smiled an affectionate farewell to Ellen, and 
his other attendants, then slept the sleep of the blessed. 

Agitated by feelings which it were useless to de¬ 
scribe, and absorbed by reflections which have been 
faintly indicated, and, I fear, too tediously dwelt on 
already, I one night retired to rest somewhat earlier 


Chap. IV.] 


THE ALPHA. 


57 


than usual. I had taken a narcotic to promote sleep, 
to which I had lately been almost a stranger ; and my 
health was suffering from its loss. I soon fell into a 
delightful slumber, and in a long-continued vision,— 
the particulars of which it will be the business of the 
three following chapters to relate—I saw the object of 
my wishes realized; my delegated task accomplished. 
More vivid than reality were the scenes and circum¬ 
stances of that dream; and the impression they made 
on me, more distinct and indelible than almost any 
occurrence of my waking life. 

The description and details of this extraordinary 
vision-dream will conclude the first part of this little 
work, to which, indeed, the portion we are now con¬ 
cluding is merely the introduction; and, if I have 
been thus far successful in convincing thee, my dear 
reader, that the world is neither as happy nor as wise 
as it might be, I am of opinion that thou wilt nerve 
thyself to the task of a deliberate and unprejudiced 
perusal of the ALPHA we are about commencing. 
Its object is to show the way—the only one—by 
which this world-wide desideratum —the greatest 

ATTAINABLE HAPPINESS OF THE ENTIRE FAMILY OF 

men —can by any possibility be accomplished. And 
although thou wilt find the relation of these dream- 
experiences less fantastic than the Arabian tales, and 
far less diverting than Don Quixote, I promise thee 
that thou shalt extract germs of wisdom therefrom, 
which it shall be the chief business of thy after-life to 
tend and nurture, that their growth within thee may 
ensure thy happiness here, and thy felicity in the 
never-ending hereafter —which will come , whether it 
find thee watching or asleep ; which will come , whether 
thy soul, incapable of anything but knowledge, have 
added to its store, or neglected the acquisition. 

Virtue is nothing : morality is nothing : holiness is 
nothing : religion is nothing : for true knowledge in- 


58 


THE ALPHA. 


[ r a k t r. 


eludes them all, and is at once virtue, morality, holi¬ 
ness, philosophy, and religion. The only difference 
between thee and other men is a difference in know¬ 
ledge : the only difference between men and angels is 
a difference in knowledge : and probably the only 
difference between Angels and the Deity, however 
immense it may be, is a difference in knowledge. 
The soul is immaterial, and incapable of blot or stain : 
it can neither suffer pollution, nor add to its purity : 
it can neither perish, nor part with its consciousness, 
nor be deprived of its intelligence; for intelligence 
and soul are indivisible, are one. All this the Alpha- 
vision will prove to thee; will make a part of thee ; 
for thou wilt not believe alone, but know; and its 
Philosophy will be thy religion a religion differing 
from all others in this,—that it cannot be put on and 
off at pleasure, but must be ever-active, forming 
an essential portion of every act, and every thought; 
needing no minister, no guide, and demanding 
of its votaries that they be men indeed ; men 
who have their own welfare in their own keeping • 
not self-sold slaves, who by an act of unspeakable 
ldiotcy, consign body and soul to the charge of crea¬ 
tures, in everything but cunning, exactly similar to 
themselves. If thou wouldst be wiser than these, 
listen to the Spirit-teacher that solicits thy attention 
in my Dream ! 


Chap. V.] 


THE ALPHA. 


59 


CHAPTER V. 

THE VISION. 

I could not have been long asleep when my vision 
commenced. At first it was confused: familiar 
objects had parted with their old appearance; and 
new things seemed familiar. I was in my own 
house ; in my own library, yet nothing in it seemed 
to be my own. My books were not in their ac¬ 
customed bindings. A few old portraits in oaken 
frames had changed to landscapes, and other subjects, 
scriptural and profane, in golden ones. Anon the 
apartment had parted with its semi-modern, neat 
appearance, and became a spacious gothic hall, filled 
with a crowd of anxious-looking persons. In the 
next moment it had shaped itself into that portion of 
Westminster Abbey known as Poet’s Corner. A few 
of the assembled crowd were examining the monu¬ 
ments. Now the busts and statues were no longer 
monuments, but living men who mingled with the 
assemblage, every individual of w T hich seemed to be 
anxiously awaiting some interesting event;—a circum¬ 
stance rendered evident to me by the excitement, 
and uneasy look of impatient expectation observable 
on their intelligent countenances. Suddenly I was 
seized with a similar feeling, and, without speaking to 
any one, I seemed to know that all were awaiting the 
arrival of Dionysius to propound his new Philosophy. 
In the next moment, there he stood, “ the observed 
of all observers,” just as I had seen him on the 
common. 

The place was now no longer Poet’s Corner, but the 


60 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part I. 


beautiful chapel of Henry the Seventh, with its stalls, 
and banners, its “ dim religious light,” its pendent 
ceiling of geometric tracery, and its quaint carvings of 
exquisite design and wondrous workmanship. Its 
dimensions had, however, expanded with the occasion, 
and thousands were congregated within its nave. 
How strange that in our dreams we have no con¬ 
sciousness of incongruity with respect to time! 
Conspicuous in the stalls were Shakspere, Ben Jonson, 
Spenser, Chaucer, Drayton, Dryden, Marlowe, Mas¬ 
singer, Milton, Butler, Byron, in short, the Parnassus 
of England ; and had the great Eather of poetry, old 
Homer himself, been amongst them, I should have 
viewed him, as I did the others, without the slightest 
sense of the anachronism. It must be that, in the 
spiritual world, with which we seem to have an easy 
commerce in our dreams, whatever has been, is. 
Methought Shakspere occupied the place of honour, 
and was, as by common consent, or prior arrangement, 
the President or Moderator of the assembly. 

Dionysius stood on the dais in front of the tomb 
of Henry and his queen : and near him, dressed in a 
robe of dazzling whiteness, stood the beautiful and 
intelligent Ellen. I was oblivious as to any con¬ 
sanguinity with either. The one was simply Ellen 
Randolph; the other the mysterious Dionysius with 
whom I had conversed on the common. And now, 
proceeding from the adjoining choir, a strain of music 
of the most unearthly sweetness, mingled (for so it 
seemed) with spirit-voices, filled the whole arena. It 
ceased; and Echo took up the strain. A thrill of 
the most exquisite pleasure passed through the whole 
assembly, which now seemed countless, and was com¬ 
posed of men and women of all grades and conditions. 
Even the roof and carvings were peopled with human 
faces, and every eye was bent on Dionysius. By in¬ 
sensible degrees he had become endued with more 


Chap. V.] 


THE ALPHA. 


61 


than human beauty; whilst Ellen’s figure had so 
blended into his, that, to my heated imagination, the 
twain seemed one. 

He advanced to the extremity of the platform, and, 
with an emphasis of which all understood the meaning, 
said:— 

“ Life is not a jest -Here Goldsmith looked 

at Gay-“It is a glorious reality.”-Here Milton 

and Byron exchanged significant glances-“ Igno¬ 

rance is—not the 4 curse of God ’—but the cause of 
evil: 4 Knowledge is the wing on which men soar to 
Heaven.’ ”- 

Methought Shakspere blushed, whilst to do him 
honour, the assembled thousands, moved by one im¬ 
pulse, rose !-Dionysius continued.— 

“ The world has erred; still errs, and is unhappy. 
The rich are unhappy notwithstanding their posses¬ 
sions. The poor are unhappy by reason of their 
numerous necessities. The wisdom of the wisest 
ends in disappointment; and to be ignorant is as 
safe as to be wise; for, of both conditions, misery is 
the inevitable lot. Vice riots in luxury, whilst Virtue 
pines in want. Audacious Impudence has everything 
but happiness, whilst Modesty lacks even bread. 
Dulness fares sumptuously, whilst Genius starves. 
Thus it has ever been, even from the beginning. 
Still, life is not a jest, but a great reality. The 
world has erred, still errs, and is unhappy. 

“ Much can be advanced in vindication of the 
worst things: and much also may be urged in dis- 








62 


THE ALPHA. 


[.Part I. 


paragement of the best. Every question in Politics, 
Ethics, and Religion has two sides, and each side its 
zealous defenders. They may be as opposite as light 
to darkness both in their nature and residts, yet the 
partizans of each maintain that their position is true 
and right, and denounce the position of their oppo¬ 
nents as false, and wrong, and fraught with evil. 
Thus, Good and Evil, Right and Wrong, Falsehood 
and Truth, are inextricably interwoven and con¬ 
founded. What is the inference? Either that the 
Deity delights to mock his creatures ; or, that his 
creatures, being ignorant, mock and cajole them¬ 
selves. One or the other of these it must be. It is 
the least indecorous to believe that the latter suppo¬ 
sition is the true one. Let us, then, suspect our¬ 
selves, rather than entertain so unhallowed a thought 
as that the Deity made men in sport; sent them in 
pursuit of a happiness which is beyond their reach ; 
and embroils them in feuds the most atrocious for 
the attainment of a visionary good. 

“ Now, in order that we should know how to dis¬ 
tinguish Evil from Good, Wrong from Right, False¬ 
hood from Truth, it is necessary that we should have 
an unerring guide. It is the business of Philo¬ 
sophy to furnish such a guide. Mankind have 
never yet had such a Philosophy. We must discover 
such an one, or continue to endure the evils resulting 
from the want. It must be a pure Philosophy, 

COMPREHENSIBLE BY ALL, CAPABLE OF BEING PRAC¬ 
TISED BY ALL, AND EMBRACING THE HIGHEST IN- 


Chap V.] 


THE ALPHA. 


63 


TERESTS OE ALL ;—A PHILOSOPHY AT ONCE SIMPLE, 
INTELLIGIBLE, AND SUPPICIENT. To do this We HlUSt 
discover the fundamental Truth, which is the ex¬ 
ponent of all truth. We must have an unerring 
principle as the basis of our Philosophy; and to 
supply this principle is the task to which I pledge 
myself in the face of this assembly. 

“ In this important matter we must proceed care¬ 
fully, and step by step. We must be certain that 
every previous step is safe before the subsequent one 
be taken. As Reason must decide whether each 
proposition advanced be false or true; and as no 
truth can be truth to us until our Reason perceives it 
to be truth, I earnestly entreat that no proposition 
be allowed to pass so long as a reason can be urged 
against it.” 

Here two Philosophers, Ernest Strong-i’-the- 
paith, and Diogenes Dull, with whose persons and 
opinions I seemed to have been previously acquainted, 
rose together, and in one voice denied that Reason 
could be relied on in a matter so important: and, 
after the right of priority had with some difficulty 
been decided, each of them proceeded to give his 
reasons for his dissent. Dionysius thus disposed of 
their objections :—■ 

“ The very act of these Objectors proves the fallacy 
of their objection. They, professedly, support by 
reason their objection against reason. They admit 
what they deny, and deny what they admit; and 
another word need not be wasted on the subject. 


64 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part I. 


That Reason often errs is because it does not make 
sure of its facts. Simple Perception is the con¬ 
sciousness of individual Facts which exist within 
ourselves, or externally to ourselves. Reason is 
complex Perception : it is a consciousness of sundry 
single facts combined with a consciousness of another 
series of facts which can only be perceived by com¬ 
paring single facts with each other: for example, I 
perceive a stone : I next perceive a stream of running 
water. I find that the stone is ponderous and solid: 
I perceive that the water is ponderous and fluid. I 
next perceive that there is a coincidence between 
them; and a difference. Both have ponderosity; 
that is a fact: but both are not fluid; that is another 
fact. The stone is at rest: the water is in motion. 
Observing these additional facts, I am led to perceive 
other facts arising out of these; namely, that the 
ponderosity and solidity of the stone are a cause of 
its being at rest; and that the ponderosity and 
fluidity of the w T ater are a cause of its being in 
motion. Here we have arrived at Complex Per¬ 
ception ; and this is Reason ; differing only from 
Simple Perception in this ;—that by comparing 
single facts we become conscious of the various cir¬ 
cumstances in which they differ and agree, as well as 
of the more latent facts of Cause and Effect. There 
is; then, nothing more mysterious about Reason 
than there is about Consciousness, the existence of 
which, I presume, neither of these Objectors will 
deny.” 


CnAP. V.] 


THE ALPHA. 


65 


Strong -P - the - faith nodded acquiescence : but 
Dull denied that the existence of consciousness is an 
established fact: hence, he contended, that there is 
no certain evidence of external things ; all which, the 
greatest Philosophers have held to be mere fancies; 
and that, therefore, a man has no positive proof even 
of his own existence. He, therefore, denied the 
infallibility of what is called Consciousness, until its 
truthfulness could be established as an incontro¬ 
vertible fact. To this argument Dionysius replied 
thus :— 

“ If the Objector is nothing, then the objection is 
nothing; and Nothing can be the author of an objec¬ 
tion, which is an absurdity. Perhaps the best proof 
that can be given that every human being really 
exists, is that every human being who really thinks 
on the subject is firmly persuaded of the fact. It is 

AN INNATE CONVICTION AS IRRESISTIBLE AS IT IS 

universal. Even those who pretend to doubt it 
only prove themselves to be pretenders: for how is it 
possible to believe in a proof furnished by reasoning 
on assumed premises, if they cannot believe a self- 
evident proposition too obvious to need a proof, and 
too simple to be established by a syllogism ? Again : 
how could these doubters believe in the result of a 
syllogism, without first believing in the existence of 
the entity which at once originates the syllogism, and 
is the subject of the doubt? A belief in the 

POTENCY OF THEIR OWN REASON, IS A BELIEF IN 

their own existence. We are conscious of the fact, 

F 


66 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part I. 


and this Consciousness is knowledge ;—the Mind, or 
Soul, knows that it exists. Just now this same 
Objector denied the trustworthiness of Reason; yet 
he has again had recourse to something, which, were 
I to designate by any other name than Reason, 
would be a discourtesy which I am desirous to 
avoid.” 

Dull bowed his acknowledgments ; and, after a 
brief pause, Dionysius proceeded with his discourse. 
He said:— 

“ We have now established two preliminaries : 

First, that there is such a thing as Simple Per¬ 
ception, by which we ascertain the positive existence 
of individual facts : and, 

Secondly, that there is such a thing as Complex 
Perception, or Reason, by which we can compare 
individual facts, and thence arrive at the knowledge 
of an endless series of truths beyond them. 

“ I will now explain what I mean by Philosophy, 
which, it will be seen, is the basis of Religion. 

“ Truth is the basis of Philosophy; because false 
convictions induce erroneous sentiments and acts, 
which necessarily result in Evil. 

“ Philosophy is, therefore, a systemized body of 
true facts, which, producing right inferential convic¬ 
tions or sentiments, and right actions, results in 
mental elevation and real happiness. 

“ Religion consists in right sentiments towards 
the Deity, and in right actions : therefore Truth, 
which is Philosophy, is the basis of Religion. The 


Chap. V.] 


THE ALPHA. 


07 


relation between Philosophy and Religion is that of 
Cause and Effect: thus, 

Philosophy is systemized Truth : 

Religion, the sentiments and actions thence 

RESULTING. 

“ The next step in our inquiry is to find an uner¬ 
ring guide to Truth. Let us ask ourselves, therefore* 

“ WHAT IS TRUTH ? 

“It is evident that Truth may have reference to 
the works of the Deity, or to the labours of Man. 
The false facts which result from erroneous reasoning 
are inimical to Philosophy, and are the source of all 
Evil. Those which, whether directly or indirectly, 
are traceable to the will and nature of the Deity, can 
alone appertain to Philosophy. As a starting-point, 
therefore, let us take as axioms the following pro¬ 
positions :— 

“ First, THAT WHICH IS POSSIBLE IS TRUE. 

“ Secondly, that which is impossible is untrue. 

“ Now, as, with the Deity, much more is possible 
than is impossible, let us endeavour to arrive at 
what is true by ascertaining what is false. It is clear 
that, 

“ Whatever is inconsistent with the true 
nature oe Deity, —(which we shall presently per¬ 
ceive to be INFINITE, PRESCIENT, ERRORLESS 
INTELLIGENCE,) — is manifestly impossible, 

AND, THEREFORE, MANIFESTLY UNTRUE. 

“ First, then, it is impossible that the all-pre- 

F 2 


68 THE ALPHA. [Part I. 

scient Deity should ever change his intentions, 
or alter or suspend his Laws por the accom¬ 
plishment OF ANY NEW PLAN OR PURPOSE, BECAUSE 
IT IS IMPOSSIBLE THAT ANYTHING SHOULD HAVE BEEN 
UNFORESEEN, OR LEFT UNPROVIDED FOR. Any assump¬ 
tion, therefore, which presupposes such change of 
will, or alteration or suspension of his Laws, implies 
Fallibility in a Being who is infallible , Imperfec¬ 
tion in a Being who is necessarily perfect , and a 
want of foresight in a Being who is necessarily pre¬ 
scient : all which is impossible, and hence untrue. 
“ Secondly, it is impossible that the Deity 

CAN BE PARTIAL, OR UNJUST, OR CRUEL, OR REVENGE¬ 
FUL. Any assumption which presupposes partiality, 
injustice, cruelty, revenge, or any other quality, dis¬ 
position, or power that is derogatory in its nature, 
implies Imperfection in the Deity ; which because 

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE, IS MANIFESTLY UNTRUE. 

Thirdly, it is impossible that any work or 

CLASS OF WORKS OF THE DEITY SHOULD BE EITHER 

purposeless or tmperfect ; because the assumption 
presupposes levity and incapacity in their author , 

WHICH IS IMPOSSIBLE ; THEREFORE, ANY ACT, INFER¬ 
ENCE, OR OPINION, BASED ON SUCH AN ASSUMPTION, 
IS ERRONEOUS AND UNTRUE. 

“ Lastly, it is impossible that any work or 

CLASS OF WORKS OF THE DEITY SHOULD NOT CONTAIN 
WITHIN ITSELF A PRINCIPLE BY WHICH, IN ALL 
THE INDIVIDUALS COMPOSING IT, THE TRUE PURPOSE 
OF ITS EXISTENCE CAN BE FULLY ACCOMPLISHED ; 


Chap. V.] 


THE ALPHA. 


69 


because, without such a principle, the work would be 
imperfect, and the purpose unattained. This is 

MANIFESTLY IMPOSSIBLE ; HENCE, ANY THOUGHT, SEN¬ 
TIMENT, OR INFERENCE, DRAWN FROM SUCH ASSUMP¬ 
TION, IS FALSE; AND EVERY ACTION THENCE ENSUING, 
IS ERRONEOUS, AND PROLIFIC OF EVIL. 

“ It follows, then, that in Man himself must we 
seek for the Principle of his being; that principle 

WHICH ENSURES, OR WHICH HAS THE INHERENT ABILITY 
TO ENSURE, THE PERFECTIBILITY OF THE PURPOSE FOR 
WHICH HE WAS CREATED. 

“ If we succeed in discovering this principle, we 
shall perceive, indubitably, first, 

“ What Man is ; 

“ And, secondly, 

“ The end towards which all his energies 
should be directed. 

“ What is GOOD, and what is EVIL, what is 
RIGHT, and what is WRONG, what we ought to 
know, and what we ought to do, will be revealed 
to us at a glance. 

“ Knowing the Principle which governs our being, 
to predicate with certainty concerning all the latent 
truths beyond it will be within the reach of our 
Reason also. The Deity has thus frequently revealed 
himself to men. Indeed, every created soul is 
itself a Revelation. Some flashes of these inspired 
revealings have been recorded; and God has spoken, 
ivhilst Sages, and Poets , and Prophets , have held the 
pen. 


70 


THE ALPHA. 


[Taut I. 


“ By the living light of the principle we are in 
search of, we shall be able to separate these flashes 
of Truth, wheresoever we may find them, from the 
erroneous ravings and falsehood by which they are 
surrounded. To know what Man is, is to be in pos¬ 
session of the most comprehensive system of Truth ; 
and this is Philosophy, this ts Revelation. 

“ Man is, therefore, the author, the Object, and, 
to a great extent, the Subject, of all Philosophy. 

“ Almost the only great Maxim we have derived 
from the recorded philosophy of the world, and to 
which the Principle we are in search of is the key, is 
the all-important one, —‘ Know thyself/ The 
attainment of this knowledge is as easy as it is mo¬ 
mentous : a single sentence will solve this hitherto 
unsolved enigma. 

“ Truth may have reference to all existences, ma¬ 
terial or immaterial: take, for example, the proposi¬ 
tion, ‘ I AM CONSCIOUS OF MY EXISTENCE/ This is 
a double truth. It means, I am conscious of the 
existence of my body; and I am conscious of the 
existence of my consciousness. I perceive also that 
my consciousness is an intelligent consciousness; 
for, if I abstract Intelligence therefrom, nothing re- 
mains. Consciousness is, therefore, Intelli¬ 
gence ; and Intelligence is the First Principle 
of Soul, or the Soul itself: for, abstract the 
entity, Intelligence, from your idea of Soul, and all 

HAS BEEN ABSTRACTED : NOTHING REMAINS. 

“ My body is resolvable into parts or elements; in 


Chap. V.] 


THE ALPHA. 


71 


other words, it is material; but my Consciousness, 
my Intelligence, my Soul, is incapable of subdivision, 
or decay, or change, or loss; in other words, it is 
immaterial, or spiritual. By the term Intelligence I 
do not here mean knowledge; but the entity which 
is its recipient—the Intelligent Principle. It is, 
therefore, true that, in my present state of existence, 
I am endued with two natures; one of which is 
subject to the change we call death; the other, in¬ 
capable of any structural change ; but capable of 
adding to itself by its inherent power to comprehend 
the nature, qualities, and capabilities of all created 
things; which comprehension signifies, in effect, the 

RE-CON VERSION OF ALL MATERIAL EXISTENCES INTO 

true ideas ; and these ideas being immaterial, all 
material things so converted, really and truly become 
an indivisible portion of the immaterial Conscious¬ 
ness ; a permanent addition to the Pirst Principle, 
and the only means by which the soul can make 
progress towards perfection. 

“ This first Principle is Intelligence. IT IS 
THE PIRST PRINCIPLE OF ALL THINGS. 
Without Intelligence there could be no Universe, no 
Creature, no Creator. Without Intelligence there 
could be no Will: without Will there could be no 
Cause : without Cause there could be no Effect: 
without Effect there could be no material entity : 
hence, every material entity is spiritual in its origin; 
the result of a prior Intelligence. Therefore, the 
universe, which is a material entity, is the effect of a 


72 


THE ALPHA. 


[l\iRT 1. 


prior Cause ; the Cause, of a prior Will; and the 
Will, of a prior Intelligence; and, out of a prior 
Idea Divine Intelligence willed the Universe : and 
Man, the embryo Intelligence, has to resolve it back 
again into an Idea before he can arrive at the per¬ 
fection of Conscious Intelligence, and begin to com¬ 
prehend the greater power of Infinite, Prescient, 
Intelligence, which is DEITY. 

“ Man, at the commencement of his conscious 
existence, is at once an embryo Intelligence, and an 
Animal. As an Animal he is endowed with animal 
instincts; which, as instincts, cannot err. As an 
embryo Intelligence he is endued with a capability 
of acquiring knowledge; that is, of converting material 
things into truthful, permanent, immaterial Ideas. 
He has no moral nature: no immoral nature : it is 
simply intellectual; for, apart from the influence of 
his animal instincts (which, if inordinately indulged, 
is a pernicious influence), and, apart also from all 
erroneous conventional influences of society, his acts, 
at any period of his existence, will be, of necessity, 
the exact reflex of his acquired knowledge: hence, 
because of this necessity, his actions, though they 

MAY BE ERRONEOUS FROM A PAUCITY OF KNOWLEDGE, 

can never be criminal. His soul, or spiritual por¬ 
tion, is an Intelligent Principle, therefore, neither 
moral nor immoral in its nature; but purely and 
simply intellectual. He may err through Ignorance; 
and if he errs he suffers ; but his sufferings are not 
in the nature of penalties inflicted as for a crime; but 


Chap. V.] 


THE ALPHA. 


73 


kindly warnings that his course is wrong and needs 
amendment, and that he is too ignorant to be happy. 

“ To guard against any error in our reasonings, 
and that we may the more thoroughly comprehend 
this important subject, it will be useful to take a retro¬ 
spective survey of the positions we have assumed, and 
in part established. We have seen— 

“ That a human being is, mentally, an embryo 
Intelligence, incapable of Crime, but liable to 
Error : 

“ That, apart from the influences to which he 

MAY BE EITHER ANIMALLY OR CONVENTIONALLY SUB¬ 
JECT, his Errors are always in the exact ratio 

OF HIS IGNORANCE: 

“ That his business as an intellectual creature 

IS TO ACQUIRE KNOWLEDGE, THE ROOT OF WHICH IS 

Self-knowledge : 

“ That knowledge consists of true facts and 

JUST INFERENCES DERIVED AND DERIVABLE FROM ALL 
THE WORKS OF THE DEITY : 

“ That, of the Truth of these Facts,—first dis¬ 
carding AS UNTRUTH WHATEVER IS IMPOSSIBLE, OR 
INCONSISTENT WITH THE INHERENT NATURE OF THE 

Deity, and the immutability of his Laws—Reason 

IS THE SOLE ARBITER AND JUDGE : 

“ That Reason is Complex Perception : 

“ That Simple Perception is Consciousness : 

“ That Consciousness is an Intelligent Prin¬ 
ciple, or Soul : 

“ That the Intelligent Principle is the First 


74 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part I. 


Principle op what is called the Human Mind: 
and 

“ That the soul op the world is Prescient, or 
Creative Intelligence, which is the Pirst Prin¬ 
ciple OF ALL THINGS ; THE GREAT PlRST CAUSE ; THE 
SPIRITUAL, ERRORLESS, INFINITE, UNIVERSAL GOD ; IN 

one word, THE DEITY. 

“ Let these propositions stand as Axioms to be 
more fully proved as we proceed. 

“ If they are true, the two Pirst Principles to 
which they have conducted us are also true; and 
being true (inasmuch as that every Effect must be 
consistent with its Cause), they will reconcile all 
anomalies, and explain everything: for if they should 

BE FOUND TO BE INCAPABLE OF THIS, THEY ARE NOT 
TRUE. 

“ A severer test of their truth cannot be applied to 
them; and with a test less severe we ought not to 
be satisfied. 

“ Assuming them to be true, we have a clear con¬ 
ception of the Pirst Principle of all things. Not only 
do we know that this Pirst Principle is Deity; but 
we perceive that Deity is Intelligence, Prescient, In¬ 
finite, and Eternal; because (as we shall see here¬ 
after) all power is reducible into it, and beyond it 
there is nothing: thus the very nature of the Deity 
is rendered comprehensible. Through the known we 
arrive at the unknown. Prom the NATURE of 
the Almighty Creator of all things we predi- 


Chap. V.] 


THE ALPHA. 


75 


CATE HIS WILL, AND THENCE ARRIVE AT A GENERAL 
COMPREHENSION OF HIS PURPOSES. 

“ We have also a clear conception of the First 
Principle of Mind: we have seen that it is Perci¬ 
pient, or Conscious Intelligence: thus, we know 
what Man is ; and from his nature we trace his 

RELATIONSHIP TO DEITY, AND PREDICATE THE PUR¬ 
POSE OF HIS BEING.” 

Here, methought, the sitting of the Assembly 
closed, and that the reverberation of the last words 
of the speaker crept lingeringly along the vaulted 
aisles until it changed into the most thrilling music. 
Mysteriously it grew in power until it filled the whole 
arena. The assembled thousands breathed vocal air 
and fed on melody, into which all but myself insen¬ 
sibly dissolved, and Music reigned there alone. But, 
anon, velvet-footed Silence drank up the melody; 
and then, delirious with the intoxicating draught, 
lay down and slept. How absolute is the Soul in 
dreams ! Unwilling to awake the slumberer, I slept 
too, and dreamed an interdream ; from which when 
I awoke, all, as it had been, was again; the speaker, 
and the auditory, and the place ; and thus, methought 
the discourse of Dionysius was continued. 


76 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part I. 


CHAPTER VI. 

THE VISION CONTINUED. 

" It did not appear to have been remarked, at any 
rate it was not objected to, at our last sitting, that I 
contended for, and in part proved, the existence of 
Two First Principles. This is contrary to the 
received opinion of A First Cause, or only God, 
and contrary also to the absolute fact; but still true 
in a sense which I will now proceed to explain to 
you. 

“ The Deity, or to reduce what to many is a com¬ 
plex term into a simple idea or element, —Infinite 
Intelligence, is the First Principle, or Great First 
Cause of all things, including, of course, Man, and 
the soul of Man. 

“ Whenever we conceive of an act we are obliged 
to conceive of a prior intention or Will in the Actor. 
It is impossible for anything but Intelligence to have 
or to exercise a will. Whether we conceive of Will 
as a Quality of Intelligence, or simply as a Mode, or 
State of being, is of no consequence. Intelligence 
has a will, and nothing but Intelligence can have a 
will. 

By the simple exercise of Will (of course prior 
to the act and prescient of all its consequences) 


Chap. VT.] 


THE ALPHA. 


77 


Infinite Intelligence willed the existence of all things, 
gave them their distinctive characters and nature, 
and enacted the laws by which all are for ever 
regulated. 

“ To Man, however, He added an Intelligent Prin¬ 
ciple, or Soul. Of the Intelligent Principle thus 
bestowed, Will is a necessary consequence: in other 
words, it is a Mode or Quality which is part of its 
nature, and inheres to it of necessity, just as form 
inheres or pertains to substance. This Will, which 
is one with the principle, could not have been be¬ 
stowed for any other purpose than to be exercised, 
and exercised, too, for the ultimate perfection of the 
being to whom it was freely given. If it had not 
been intended to be used it could not have been 
given. To suppose otherwise is to attribute levity 
to Deity, which is impossible. It follows, therefore, 
that, having been bestowed, it w T as bestowed for a 
purpose, and its recipient has necessarily free liberty 
to use it. He has, besides, intuitive yearnings for 
things unattainable except through the activity of the 
principle to which this Will inheres. We perceive, 
therefore, that Man having been endowed with the 
Intelligent Principle, has of necessity a Will; and 
from the first dawn of this principle in infancy to the 
termination of his mortal life, Man, the individual, 
and Man the species, is continually exercising his 
Will either for Evil or for Good. 

“The influence of the human Will is limited to 
the Earth, and is further circumscribed by the Laws 


78 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part I. 


to which as an animal Man is subject. Within this 

CIRCLE HE IS ABSOLUTE : HE IS—NOT TO SPEAK IT 
IRREVERENTLY, A LITTLE DEITY. 

“ Thus we have THE Eirst Principle, —Infinite, 
or Prescient Intelligence, whose Will is limitless, or 
limited only by impossibility; and A First Prin¬ 
ciple, which is finite, Percipient Intelligence, whose 
Will is circumscribed by its finite power, and by the 
Laws to which the will of the Deity has rendered it 
subject. 

“THE First Principle is, by the exercise op 
its Will, The Great First Cause op all things ; 
whilst the Intelligent Principle accorded to 
Man, is, by the exercise of its Will, the First 
Cause of all the finite circumstances which 
influence his condition on the earth. 

Thus, therefore, notwithstanding that the Intelli¬ 
gent Principle in Man, in common with every other 
existence in the universe, owes its existence to The 
Great First Cause, or Deity ; — within the circle 
accorded to Human injtuence y Man , by means of his 
Intelligence , is permitted to be the cause or creator of 
his own Institutions Cmoral } civil , religious , and poll 
ticalj; to have the care of his own existence ; the 
cultivation or abandonment of his own Intellect; and 
the working out of his own perfectibility and happiness: 
but, compared with what his Intelligence is capable 
of accomplishing, what has he done ! 

“ It is within this circle that Good and Evil 
have their being. Man is the author of the Evil; 


Chap. VT.] 


THE ALPHA. 


79 


and the existence of the Evil causes the recognition 
of the Good. Not that all is Evil which he denomi¬ 
nates Evil, or that all is Good which he denominates 
Good; but here, and by his own acts, those circum¬ 
stances have their origin to which he ignorantly 
attaches these hitherto undefinable appellations. Here, 
too, all Vice is created ; hence the Virtues and the 
Moralities. Here wickedness has its natural home; 
hence Religion, and Civil Government, and Law: and 
Man is the Author of them all: and all of them are 
Evils! 

“ To bemoan these Evils is no part of the business 
of Philosophy; nor to think it has touched the very 
summit of human wisdom, by persuading men to 
bear them. If Philosophy is to be of any greater 
value to the world than ‘ swords in dead men’s hands, 
or lamps in sepulchres,’ it must teach mankind the 
way of their avoidance. 

“ Whether, then, the Intelligent Principle in Man 
be viewed as a Eirst Principle, or as a secondary one 
(which it is), the results, as regards our inquiry, are 
the same. The will which inheres to our In¬ 
telligence is Eree. The objects of our happiness, 
and the means for its attainment, are left to our own 
free choice, but we have erred in the selection. Not, 
then, by the partiality oe Heaven, but by the 
self-ignorance and folly of Man is superiority 

AND DOMINION, AND POWER CONFERRED ON A FEW. 

It is because we have chosen as our Chief Good the 
things which physical prowess can have by fighting for. 


80 


THE ALPHA. 


[Paut I. 


and hold by means of force, that there is strife and 
contention amongst us—that there are Victors and 
Vanquished, Masters, Servants, Sovereigns, Subjects, 
Slaves, When the weak grow wise they will 

CHANGE THEIR TACTICS, SHIFT THEIR BATTLE-GROUND, 
AND FIX ON A PRIZE TO STRUGGLE FOR, WHICH HAS 
HEAVEN’S OWN SANCTION FOR THE WINNING, AND 
WHICH ALL MAY WIN ! 

“ Ml our miseries are of our own making. All real 
Evils are our own handiwork. But natural difficulties 
are not evils; nor, in the abstract, is Ignorance an 
evil, but a good. It is the natural and necessary 
difficulty which must be surmounted before we can be 
happy. The first and chief difficulty is self-know¬ 
ledge : for so long as we are ignorant of ourselves we 
but grope our way without an object, and vainly wage 
war with difficulties in the dark. The work of ‘ re¬ 
demption ’ MUST BE OUR OWN WORK : NO MAN CAN 
SHIFT THIS LABOUR ON ANOTHER. HEAVEN WILL 
NOT VOUCHSAFE ANY MIRACULOUS INTERPOSITION TO 
HELP US, NOR DO WE NEED THE AID. Deem not 

that there is any irreverence in this : Intelligence is 
capable of its appointed work. God gave the Intelli¬ 
gence to do the work. ‘ Shall not the “Judge” of all 
the earth do right ?’ Its work is the acquisition of 
knowledge, which is its Happiness, its Heaven. But 
the highest heaven of its felicity is only to be reached 
through self-knowledge, which shows us what we are, 
and all we might be: then selfishness ceases, and 
knowledge terminates in Love. 


Chap. VI.] 


THE ALPHA. 


81 


“We perceive, therefore, that Intelligence, 

NAMELY, THE INTELLIGENT PRINCIPLE, IS THE PlRST 

Principle of the human Mind. ALL THAT THIS 
PRINCIPLE IS CAPABLE OP IS KNOWLEDGE. 

“Through the sensoriura, or physical organs of 
sense, it becomes conscious of Pacts. It can know 
them. By comparing individual facts with each other, 
by observing the relation one fact bears to another, 
and deducing inferences therefrom—which is to Rea¬ 
son—it becomes conscious of other Pacts. THESE 
NEW PACTS THE INTELLIGENT PRINCIPLE 
CAN KNOW. 

“ Prom things seen it can predicate of things not 
seen: and if it reason correctly, and on true facts, 
again it becomes conscious of a further series of facts : 
and these facts IT CAN KNOW. They are facts 
which the physical eye cannot see, but which the In¬ 
telligence, or Soul, CAN SEE, CAN COMPRE¬ 
HEND, CAN KNOW. Hence, ALL THAT THE 
SOUL IS CAPABLE OF IS KNOWLEDGE. 

“ Out of this knowledge comes the physical capa¬ 
bility to do all that dual-natured Man can do. But, 
whatever it enables him to wish for, to aspire 

TO, OR TO DO, HIS KNOWLEDGE IS STILL KNOW¬ 
LEDGE and nothing else. It is not Morality : it is 
not Virtue ; it is not Religion : though, if his acts be 
such as are conventionally deemed Moral, Virtuous, or 
Religious, they are the natural results of his know¬ 
ledge ; or of habit, or of convictions, whether wrong or 
rio-ht which stand him in the stead of knowledge. 

O 5 


G 


82 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part I. 


Without the knowledge they are nonentities : with the 
knowledge they are only names which designate re¬ 
sults. They are mere conventional terms, neither 
more nor less ; but the actions or feelings they repre¬ 
sent are the results of knowledge, or of educational 
habits and convictions, which, as they are believed to 
be right, have all the force of knowledge. Say the act 
called virtuous springs from real knowledge, in 
other words, from a right conviction;—the act is 
necessarily good,— virtuous ie you will ; — BUT 
THE VIRTUE IS THE KNOWLEDGE. The 
name is a mere conventional designation of the act. 
Call the same act vicious , if you please : no matter : 

IT IS THE RESULT OF A RIGHT CONVICTION : IT 
IS NOT CAUSED BY ANY VIRTUOUS OR VICIOUS EMOTION, 

or quality or mind : it is simply the result of 
knowledge. 

“ Man is not, therefore, a Moral being ; nor 
is he a Religious being : HE IS SIMPLY AN IN¬ 
TELLIGENT, OR INTELLECTUAL BEING. 

“ If his knowledge enable him to comprehend his 
relationship to the Deity, his Creator, a reverential 
feeling of pious homage is the necessary result of the 
conviction. Call this Religion, or give this act of 
homage any other name; no matter : it is the neces¬ 
sary result of his knowledge. Without the Intelligence 
or intellectual principle, there could have been no per¬ 
ception, no act, no homage, no Religion : hence Man 
is not a Religious being, neither is he a Moral being: 
he is simply and solely an Intellectual being. 


Chap. VI.] 


THE ALPHA. 


83 


“ This is what Man is spiritually ; and let Meta¬ 
physicians and Moralists say what they will, spiritu¬ 
ally HE IS NOTHING ELSE; AND GREATER HE 
NEED NOT BE. 

“ But as a dual-natured creature, during the period 
of his physical life, he is also a gregarious or Social 
being, and has to provide for his physical, as well as 
for his spiritual wants : and if he had knowledge enough 
to live consonantly with his higher nature, even in his 
social relations his acts could not be either virtuous or 
moral: they would be the natural and unavoidable 
results of his knowledge. The real Man is the 

SPIRITUAL MAN, THE INTELLIGENT PRINCIPLE ; AND 
ALL IT CAN ADD TO ITSELF IS KNOWLEDGE. 

“ Having now a clear conception of the Intelligent 
Principle in Man, the nature of which determines 
the purpose of its being, let us proceed to examine 
the nature and attributes of Deity. 

“ It is admitted, because it is impossible to deny, 
that the Essence we denominate Deity is the Primary 
Principle of all things, or the great First Cause. 

“ Every act implies Intelligent Intention in the actor: 
hence, that which we call Deity is Intelligent. It 
must have existed prior to creation : hence, that which 
we call Deity is Prescient. It must be as limitless in 
its activity as the universe: hence, that which we call 
Deity is Infinite: infinite in its power; infinite in its 
prescience ; infinite in its Intelligence or knowledge. 
Therefore the Deity is Infinite Prescient Intel¬ 
ligence; or, an Intelligent Principle having 
g 2 


84 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part I. 


Infinite Fore-Knowledge. But as every act of 
Intelligence implies prescience of the result, as w r ell 
as Power to produce it, our idea of Deity may be 
further simplified by describing it as an Essence, or 
Intelligent Principle, having Infinite Knowledge : or, 
as an Essence whose Nature, Power, and Perfection, 
consists in its- Knowledge. But as the Knowledge is 
necessarily co-existent with the Essence, if not prior to 
it, and superior to the Essence, because without the 
knowledge the Essence were as .nothing, we will take 
the nature of Deity for the Deity, and describe the 
Essence, which is one and indivisible with the Know¬ 
ledge, by a term which comprehends all knowledge ; 
that term is Infinite Intelligence. 

“ The Primary cause, or First Principle, of all things 
is Intelligence. Whence it came, and how r , is know¬ 
ledge for another state : a knowledge which we 
shall attain to, or the DESIRE to attain it had 

not been implanted in our nature.-Enough for us 

now that we are conscious of its existence.-We 

know all that it is essential for us to know.-We 

have as thorough a comprehension of what the Deity is 

as of what Man, is, or the Soul of Man.-We know 

as much of Spirit as we know of Matter.-The 

Essence of either is alike incomprehensible. 

“By the aid of our physical senses we know that 
Form and Ponderosity are essential qualities of Matter : 
and by the aid of a Spiritual Sense, which is analo¬ 
gous to intuition, we know that Knowledge is an 
essential quality of the Intelligent Principle whether 







Chap. IV.] 


THE ALPHA. 


85 


in Deity or in Man. We are as certain of the exist¬ 
ence of this principle as we are of the existence of 
the globe on which we live, or of the colour and 
fragrance of the rose. 

“ Are Colours nothing ? is Fragrance nothing ? 
To a man born blind and destitute of the sense of 
smell they are as nothing: nor would it be possible 
to convey to him the smallest notion of either, or to 
afford him the slightest proof of their existence. But 
without sensuous organs by which to perceive it, all 
men are more or less conscious of the existence of 
the intangible, inaudible, imponderous, odourless, and 
viewless Soul. Whether it has any qualities analogous 
to colour, ponderosity, and form, we know not; and 
yet we are certain of its existence : certain that it 
thinks; certain that it remembers; certain that it has 
a sense of happiness and misery ; and certain that it 
gathers strength for immortality by feeding on Know¬ 
ledge, which is as imponderous, as impalpable, as 
shapeless, as immaterial as itself! 

“ We attach no notion of Form, or of Colour, or 
of Fragrance to the Ideas which represent Happiness, 
and Hope; yet, without any such aids, we no more 
doubt of the existence of these mental Images, or of 
their importance, or of their indestructibility, than we 
doubt of the existence of the Birds that sing, we 
know not why, above us; or of the Flowers that 
bloom, we know not how, beneath our feet. But the 
Ideas of things that have colours, and forms, and 
fragrance on the Earth, shall retain them, always to 


86 


THE ALPHA. 


[Pabt I. 


the appreciation of our mental sense, and be our 
blooming amaranths in Heaven. So also the beloved 
forms of our acquaintances and friends, rendered 
appreciable by the force and fulness of our know¬ 
ledge, will necessarily remain with us for ever ! 

“ And although we do not now clearly comprehend 
the essential form or Likeness of the Spiritual God ? 
we yet can clearly comprehend its Soul or Nature, 
which is Intelligence; for its Attributes, as we shall pre¬ 
sently see, add nothing to the Idea, because, in their 
totality and perfection, the Attributes and the Entity 
are One. 

“ Thinking men know this. Even Metaphysicians 
have an inkling of the matter ; but Moralists have the 
fact to learn. 

“Erom Prescience, by which we mean infinite 
fore-knowledge, if we abstract Intelligence, what re¬ 
mains ? Assuredly Nothing! 

“ Therefore Prescience is Infinite Intelligence. 

“ Erom Omnipotence, by which we express all we 
can conceive of Power, if we abstract Intelligence, 
what remains P Nothing ! 

“Therefore Omnipotence is Infinite Intelligence. 

“By Ubiquity we mean the faculty of being 
present everywhere at the same time, the possibility 
of which may be perceived by considering that to 
know all things so intimately as to have created them, 
is necessarily to be with and in all things by a simple 
act of thought: if from Ubiquity we abstract Intel¬ 
ligence what remains ? Again, Nothing ! 


Chap. VI.] 


THE ALPHA. 


87 


“ Therefore Ubiquity is Infinite Intelligence. 

“ Omniscience is infinite Wisdom. Without the 
Intelligence there could be no wisdom : 

“ Therefore Omniscience is Infinite Intelligence. 

“We will next suppose Perfect Justice, which 
means neither more nor less than thinking correctly 
on all subjects, and, (which is an inevitable conse¬ 
quence,) doing right in all cases ;—the Being, then, 
that is perfectly Just must be Infinitely Intelligent; 
and Justice is only another name for infinite 
Intelligence, or Deity. 

<( Suppose again Perfect Goodness. A moment s 
reflection shows us that this is only another name for 
Perfect Justice, and consequently that it is Deity 
or Divine Intelligence. 

“ All Attributes of Deity are but Synonymes of 
Deity, because all are resolvable into Infinite In¬ 
telligence. 

“ To Prescience, Omniscience, Omnipotence, and 
Ubiquity, Man does not presume to put forward any 
pretensions. We shall see that he has just as little 
right to lay claim to the others. 

“Take Justice, Goodness, Benevolence, Mercy, 
Truth: add the Omni which alone can make them 
applicable to Deity, and the identity of each is lost in 
the Infinite Intelligence which renders them absolute ; 
and which, by rendering them absolute, deprives 
them of existence: for we have but to suppose them 
to be perfect to perceive that, as attributes, they are 
nothing. 


88 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part I. 


“ Reduced to their primaries, therefore :— 

“ Prescience is not Prescience, but Infinite Intel¬ 
ligence. 

“ Omniscience is not Omniscience, but Infinite 
Intelligence. 

“ Ubiquity is not Ubiquity, but Infinite Intelli¬ 
gence. 

“Omnipotence is not Omnipotence, but Infinite 
Intelligence. 

“ So, Justice, Benevolence, Goodness, Mercy, 
Truth, are not Justice, Benevolence, Goodness, 
Mercy, Truth, but each, and all of them, are Infinite 
Intelligence; and as Intelligence is nothing but In¬ 
telligence, these Attributes, as attributes, are nothing. 

We perceive also that relative or imperfect 
justice is not Justice; and that relative or im¬ 
perfect goodness is not Goodness; and so of the 
others: it follows, therefore, that, either way, the 
whole of these terms are the representatives of no¬ 
thing. They are misnomers when applied to the 
manifestations of imperfect knowledge, and super¬ 
fluous when applied to Deity: hence Man who 
necessarily lacks the perfection of knowledge, cannot 
be Just or Good any more than he can be ubiquitous 
or omnipotent. He can however be relatively In¬ 
telligent : and, considering relative Intelligence to be 
relative Justice, or Goodness, he can be relatively 
Just, or Good. 

“ To the extent of his knowledge, he can also think 
correctly, and do right: and to the extent of his 


Chap. YI.l 


THE ALPHA. 


89 


ability to do right will he attain the object of his 
existence, and be happy. 

“ Nor is it possible to conceive how the Creator 
could have bestowed Happiness on the Creature but 
by creating him ignorant, that through the unhappi¬ 
ness which flows from Ignorance, he might, by the 
contrast, be able to appreciate the felicity which 
Knowledge alone can give. 

“ It will be seen that in our list of Attributes we 
have included Mercy. Mercy is, however, altogether 
human. We are obliged to suppose the existence of 
‘ Sin’ and Crime before Mercy has any conceivable 
function. Sin (which in the language of what is 
called Religion is crime committed against God), is 
an impossibility: for Ignorance does not sin; and 
Knowledge cannot sin. Ignorance does not sin, and 
cannot sin, just as Darkness, which must always be 
darkness, cannot have the illuminating properties of 
Light: and Knowledge cannot sin, just as Light 
cannot subsist without the quality of illumination. 
Ignorance errs and suffers ; but Error, in the 
sight of Him who knows that Ignorance must err , is 
not punishable Sin. Nor, on the contrary, is the 
natural consequence of Knowledge rewardable Virtue. 
I mean that Error is not punished as obduracy against 
God; nor right actions rewarded as acts of obedience 
and homage towards the Deity: for to suppose either, 
is to entertain a multitude of absurdities, which only 
the most besotted Ignorance can entertain , in reference 
to the Deity. 


90 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part I. 


“ In a sense, however, and that—a most benefi¬ 
cent one, Error is punished; and Virtue (I mean 
the natural result of knowledge) is rewarded. Error 
is made to suffer on its own account , and, for its own 
advantage; namely, that it might get Knowledge, 
avoid the consequences of error, and be happy: and 
Knowledge is ‘ its own exceeding great rewardit 
does right; in other words, it knows, and thence 
enjoys. Thus much, therefore, for what mistaken 
zealots call ‘ Sin;’ and in their Justice damn without 
redemption! 

“ Crime is sin committed against Society; but 
were Society Just there could be no crime: and 
where there is neither Sin nor Crime there cannot be 
either Vengeance or Mercy. 

“Mercy is not, therefore, an Attribute of the 
Deity; but only one of those Virtues which Human 
Ignorance has made necessary on Earth, and which, 
progress in Knowledge alone, can ever enable us to 
dispense with. 

“Truth, as the faithful expression, or utterance, 
of a conviction between man and man, is only another 
name for Honesty, and is, therefore, one of the 
Virtues ; and, like the others, will cease to be re¬ 
garded as a virtue when men grow wise enough to 
remove the artificial inducements to falsehood which 
at present disgrace Society. 

“ The faithful utterance of a conviction, though it 
chance to be an erroneous one, is Honesty; but a 

RIGHT CONVICTION, IS KNOWLEDGE. 


Chap. VI.] 


THE ALPHA. 


91 


“ In the first, or adjective sense, it is a non-entity, 
an abstraction, which Falsehood, the product of 
Ignorance, enables us to appreciate as a virtue. In 
the other case it is an Entity, it is Knowledge; 
which when incorporated with the Intelligent Prin¬ 
ciple in Man, adds, as it were, to its stature, secures 
its individuality, becomes its happiness, and is the 
only object of all true Philosophy. 

“ In either sense, to regard Truth as an Attribute 
of the Deity is, at best, superfluous: for, as the 
Deity cannot lie, to speak of his probity is needless; 
and to make Knowledge an Attribute of Knowledge, 
though not more erroneous than to deem Omnipo¬ 
tence an Attribute, will perhaps be regarded by 
some minds as a clearer evidence of the absurdity. 

“ However homage-giving, and thence, however 
right, it is in Man to add, in a reverential spirit, any 
of these designations to the sacred name of his 
Creator, in reality, the Deity has no Attributes. 
Neither has Man. 

“ It follows as a corollary, that all the Qualities of 
Mind which Metaphysicians anatomize and expound 
with so much minuteness and appearance of wisdom, 
are all mere modes of thought and action; or the 
simple manifestations of the Intelligent Principle, 
under the pressure of the artificial circumstances 
induced by Ignorance and Error. Such, and naught 
else, are Justice, Benevolence, Probity, Mercy, Truth. 

“ The Passions have the same dark origin. Genius, 
Fancy, Imagination, are also (in their integrity, not 


92 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part I. 


in their misdirection for worldly gain), the simple 
manifestations of Intellect in quest of Knowledge. 

“ Again, Judgment is resolvable into Reason, and 
Reason, into Perception; whilst Perception is only 
another name for Consciousness, and Consciousness, 
another name for the Intelligent Principle, or Soul. 

“ We might, therefore, safely leave Metaphysics to 
the Metaphysicians; and their subtleties to the 
Mystics (if such there be) to whom habit has rendered 
darkness a source of satisfaction and dreamy joy. 
Enough for us that we know that Deity is Intelli¬ 
gence ; that the Intelligent Principle in Man is one 
and indivisible; having one nature, which is Intel¬ 
lectual; one object, which is Knowledge; and that 
knowledge is its only real Happiness. 

“ For the greater satisfaction of those whose educa¬ 
tion has been so neglected that they find it difficult 
to perceive all the logical deductions which the 
recognition of the First Principle opens up to minds 
more disciplined and reflective, I purpose to avail 
myself of any opportunity which may occur in these 
discourses, to multiply proofs of the soul’s immor¬ 
tality : for, strange to say, the Immortality of the 
Soul is as little believed in now as though a priest¬ 
hood had never existed! 

“As one of these opportunities just now presents 
itself I will detain you a brief space longer whilst I 
point out some of the affinities which are perceptible 
between the nature of Divine Intelligence, and the 
Intelligent Principle in Man. Both are real exist- 


Chap. VI.] 


THE ALPHA. 


93 


ences; both are Spiritual; both are Intelligent; 
therefore, from a parity of reasoning, both are 

ETERNAL. 

“ Intelligence is an Entity without which the mate¬ 
rial universe could not have been, or being, were as 
nothing. It is impossible, therefore, that Intelligence 
can perish. The human soul can comprehend these 
truths. What, then, is the human soul ? Even the 
most besotted Atheist must answer, ‘ Intelligence!’ 
Certain, therefore, of the identity of their nature, let 
us see if there be not as striking a parity in their 
manifestations. Erom a prior Idea GOD created 
the Universe. Erom a prior Idea Milton cre¬ 
ated his Comus ; Angelo, his Last Judgment; 
Shakspere, his Hamlet; Cervantes, his Quix¬ 
ote ; Praxiteles, his Venus ; and Marshall, hts 
statue of Eve. Humble as are these comparisons 
they afford the most gratifying evidence of the 
exalted parentage of the soul. 

“ Again, Divine Intelligence knows all the Past, 
and fore-knows all the Euture. So the Human Mind, 
as far as it truly comprehends the Principle of Gravi¬ 
tation, knows all the Past operations of the Law, and 
fore-knows all the Euture. A perfect fore-knowledge 
of the results of any act appertains of necessity to 
Infinite Intelligence, because, as the power is coinci¬ 
dent with the will, the results must be coincident 
with the INTENTION. 

“ In like manner,—to the extent of its power over 
the circumstances by which its intention is to be 


94 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part T. 


accomplished, a similar fore-knowledge appertains to 
the Intelligent Principle in Man. There is nothing 
then, mysterious or incomprehensible in Prescience. 

“ Even tn the matter oe Ubiquity there is 
the same resemblance. God constructed every¬ 
thing, and hence, knows everything however mighty 
it is, or however inconceivably minute, and by an act 
of thought is present with all at once. In like man¬ 
ner, say, a Man has reared one handiwork of his own 
contrivance on this spot; others at the Antipodes : 
were he afterwards an inhabitant of the Dog Star, by 
a simple act of thought his Soul would instantly be 
with them all !—and this the more completely, the 
more thorough might be his intimacy with the details 
of his work. These are puny comparisons, but they 
prove the identity in nature between Deity and the 
Human Soul. And as the Deity is necessarily 
Eternal, it follows that the human Soul is 
necessarily Eternal too. Our relationship with 
Heaven is clear, and the purpose of our being, manifest. 

“ The Deity is Omni-Cognoscence, or, adjectively, 
Omni-Cognoscent: the Human Soul is Mini-Cognos- 
cence, or, adjectively, Mini-Cognoscent. The one has 
all knowledge, with a still unsatisfied DESIRE to 
have an infinitude of Sharers in its knowledge. The 
other has some knowledge, with a still-increasing 
DESIRE to work out the purpose of its existence, by 
increasing its amount. Between the OMNI and the 
MINI lies all the unspeakable difference. To di¬ 
minish this difference is the only conceivable, nay, the 


Chap. VI.] 


THE ALPHA. 


95 


only possible purpose of our being : and to obey the 
promptings of the Soul’s Desire, is the certain, and 
withal, the only means, of its attainment. 

“ We have hitherto mistaken the object of this 
Desire. It is not for the Gold which ‘thieves may 
steal and the rnoth corrupt , 5 that we have ceaseless 
longings; but for that Wealth, which, to have, entails 
no poverty on our fellows, and, which to distribute, 
however prodigally, amongst them, serves only to add 
to our own possession. 

“ We have seen that ERROR is the prolipic 
Parent of all Evil, and the Cause of the 

MANY HINDRANCES WE MEET WITH IN OUR PRO¬ 
GRESS TOWARDS PERFECTION AND HAPPINESS. At 

our next Sitting we will trace Error to its 

SOURCE ; DISCOVER THE ORIGIN OF EVIL ; AND TAKE 
THE FIRST SAFE STEP TOWARDS THE EXTERMI¬ 
NATION OF HUMAN MISERY FROM THE WORLD FOR 
EVER. 5 ’ 

Dionysius ceased. Not so my Dream. The scene 
had changed in an instant to the Spirit-world where, 
in idea, all that had been, was. There metliought the 
Souls of Men were working out the problems that had 
baffled them on Earth. Some were slowly finding out 
how grasses grew; others, discovering what Com¬ 
bustion is, and Space, and Light, and Life, and, 
Motion. What joy marked progress here ! Ear, far 
from these methought I saw a group of tiny Souls that 
had been Kings, and Queens, and Popes, and Em¬ 
perors, puzzled to discover ‘ the difference between a 


96 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part I. 


Sovereign and a Subject’: but no sign of joy gave 
evidence of their progress ! not long enough seemed, 
all eternity to solve this problem to their satisfaction. 
I pitied them, and passed to a larger group beyond, 
whose labours seemed as hopeless as the last. Their 
problem was ‘ the difference between ignoble and 
noble blood !’ Near these were another knot, poring 
over a problem of their own propounding,‘ One is three, 
and three are One.’ Methouglit that after centuries 
on centimes of hopeless labour, enlightenment began 
to dawn upon these groups of self-deceivers ; and that 
thenceforth Ignorance grew less a Hell! Insensibly, 
and after what seemed to be the lapse of many cen¬ 
turies, this vision of the Spirit-world grew indistinct, 
and faded. A consciousness of most delicious music 
took its place: and as my Spirit yielded to its influ¬ 
ence, the former phasis of my dream came back. 
Again there was the same thronged Chapel, the same 
countenances, the same mute attention; and thus 
the mysterious Dionysius again proceeded with his 
discourse. 


Chap. VII.] 


THE ALPHA. 


97 


CHAPTER VII. 

THE VISION CONCLUDED. 

“ Our last discourse was somewhat desultory. Let 
us collect its purport, 

“ That we might know how to live it was neces¬ 
sary to know why we live. This we discovered by 
deducing the Purpose of the Deity from the Nature 
of Deity; and the Nature, from the evidences of 
Design and Power exemplified in its works. 

“ To comprehend a work perfectly we must know 
the Purpose for which it was designed or created. The 
purpose for which the granite or the marble rock was 
made, is not so perceptible as the purpose of the 
Human Soul. If in the creation of the universe the 
Deity had a primary purpose, and if that purpose 
was effected by the operations of a general Law, it 
is certain that some things exist from sheer necessity, 
being the inevitable results of the Principle or Law 
which had for its object some existence in particular. 
Marble rocks, and thousands of other things, may, 
and probably do exist as the consequence^ of such 
necessity. 

“ Let me give you an example. A sculptor pro¬ 
duces a statue out of a marble block. The statue is 
the special object he has in view as the result of his 
n 


98 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part I. 


labours; but chips and fragments which he did not 
purpose by his labours exist from sheer necessity. 
Nor are these fragments altogether useless; for, 
although he would not have reduced a block of 
Parian marble into fragments to make a walk in his 
garden, he converts them to this purpose because 
they happen to be so convertible, and because when 
so converted they have a use. So in Nature, myriads 
of things might have an existence from sheer neces¬ 
sity. They are accidents, but not useless accidents. 
The universe would not have been created on their 
account; but as they are necessary results, and, 
withal, not useless ones, of the Law or principle which 
had to be called into activity for the production of a 
special object, they necessarily coexist with the 
object whose existence was the special purpose of 
the Law. 

“ If, then, we do not always discover from a na¬ 
tural object (whether animate or inanimate,) a pur¬ 
pose, capable of satisfying us that for such purpose it 
was specially designed, we are safe in considering, 
(besides making allowances for our ignorance,) that 
it might be one of those things which exist of 
necessity;—an accident which has its being out of 
the circumstances by which another object has its 
existence. 

“ Thus the Purpose of a granite rock, or the Upas 
tree, or the Pattle-snake, or of myriads of creatures 
that cover every inch of matter, if not of space, with 
life, are not so easily comprehended as is the purpose 


Chap. VII.] 


THE ALPHA. 


99 


of the Soul of Man : and the whole of them may be 
the necessary consequences of those general conditions 
by which dual-natured humanity has its being. Man 
has animal life; and the conditions by which his ani¬ 
mal life is secured to him, might be the reason, and 
probably is the reason, that all other forms of animal 
life have their existence. It is of no moment that some 
of the lower animals preceded him in the order of time. 
The existence of the lower animals, therefore, is pos¬ 
sibly, an accident which the all-wise Architect of the 
world has converted into secondary purposes that are 
at once useful and beneficent. Of this we are 
certain,—that there is a Purpose, whether it be a 
primary purpose, or only a minor one, in the exist¬ 
ence OF ALL CREATED THINGS. 

“ Man is pre-eminently distinguished above every 
other existence of which we have any knowledge or 
conception. A Single Human Soul, inasmuch as it 
thinks, and is endued with a nature analogous with 
the nature of Deity itself, is a greater work than this 
unconscious ball, the Earth, on which it came into 
existence. Why, then, may not the existence of 
countless Myriads of such Souls have been the Pri¬ 
mary Purpose of the Deity in the creation of this 
Earth; nay, even in the creation of the Universe ? 
But, be this as it may; by having ascertained from 
the Nature of the Deity, the Purpose of the Deity in 
respect to Man ; and from the Nature of the Human 
Soul, the only purpose its existence can possibly 
subserve, we have discovered infallibly, first, what 
h 2 


100 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part I. 


Man is, secondly, why he is, and, thirdly, why he is 
what he is; and from this knowledge we have no 
difficulty in discovering how he ought to live, so 
as to become what he was meant to become, and 
has had the free choice of means given to him of 
becoming. 

“ We have seen that Man is, spiritually, an Intel¬ 
lectual Being conjoined to an organized material body, 
and so conjoined, that he might, through toil and 
difficulty, acquire the rudiments of knowledge;— 
which knowledge, and the difficulties attendant on 
its acquisition, we have seen to be the appointed 
means through which alone his Happiness is attain¬ 
able. As the Purposes of his Creator are necessarily 
beneficent; and as the Human Soul is incapable of 
any other acquisition than Knowledge and its attend¬ 
ant felicity, the ultimate attainment of this Happiness 
is perceived to be the only possible purpose of the 
Deity in the creation of the Human Family. 

“ Innumerable evils have marked the track of 
Humanity hitherto : they have transformed the Earth 
into the abiding-place of misery ; and degraded God¬ 
like creatures into fiends. And why? Because, 
ignorant of their true nature, the most enlightened 
speculations of mankind have been raised on guesses, 
and propagated with a ferocity proportioned to their 
falsehood : and because,—ignorant of the true pur¬ 
pose of human existence,—the efforts, even of the 
most conscientious of our teachers, have been one 
long, disheartening tissue of mistakes. Our blind 


Chap. VII.] 


THE ALPHA. 


101 


faith in blind Leaders -who feeling something 

of the God within them, have assumed the God- 

have egregiously deceived us. But when each man 
knows himself, he will have confidence in himself, and 
trust no other leader. 

“We have seen that a human being does not ‘ Sin.’ 
We have seen that Crime is law-made or conventional, 
and, therefore, not necessarily wrong. We have seen 
that whatever is Bight, whether in sentiment or 
action, is the result of a right conviction ; and that 
whatever is Wrong is the result of an erroneous, or 
a wrong conviction : and from these most important 
facts we have deduced the following axiom; namely, 
that the Errors of Mankind are always in the 

EXACT RATIO OF THEIR IGNORANCE. 

“ Error is the primary cause of all the Evil that is 
done, and of nearly all the Evil that is suffered, by 
humanity: but it will be perceived that, philoso¬ 
phically, Ignorance, which is a pure Negation, is not 
the cause of Error. Error is the result of a 

WRONG CONVICTION : AND EVIL IS THE RESULT OF 

Error. It does not result from what we know, nor 
from what we do not know, but from what we believe 
on false reasoning, or on false or imperfect testi¬ 
mony : in other words, it results from a wrong 
conviction. 

“ It has been previously asserted that Evil is alto¬ 
gether the work of humanity, the natural consequence 
of that free will which inheres to the human soul; 
and that beyond the sphere of human influence Evil 




102 


THE ALPHA. 


[Tabt I. 


has no existence. This fact will be proved to demon¬ 
stration by tracing Error, which is the parent of Evil, 
to its source. 

“ We have already proved that all which concerns 
us as spiritual beings,—all that it is possible for the 
Mind to acquire on Earth—is Knowledge. It is 
clear, therefore, that Error must have reference to its 
attainment. Our Desire to know, which is the 
ever-active principle of our existence, must ever pre¬ 
cede our Attempt to know : and, in the absence of 
all conventional influences, our Convictions must 
always precede our Acts. But our Convictions, in¬ 
asmuch as they are frequently arrived at through 
greatly-involved comparison, are sometimes wrong. 
It is then that we entertain a wrong conviction, 
which, as we are unconscious of its being wrong, 
stands us in the stead of Real Knowledge, or a Right 
Conviction; and the act which results from it is an 
Erroneous act. Clearly, then, Error is the result of a 
wrong conviction. 

“ This argument may be more briefly stated : 
thus:— 

“ It is necessary that we should get Knowledge, 
hence we have a desire to get Knowledge; but, as 
the attainment of all the facts which are not immedi¬ 
ately perceptible through our external senses is the 
result of laborious and involved comparison, we are 
liable to Error. 

“ It is, however, clear that we should not be liable 
to Error if we knew all things, because the act of 


Chap. VII.] 


THE ALPHA. 


103 


reasoning would be unnecessary. We are safe, there¬ 
fore, in asserting that,— 

“ The Deity, who is omni-Intelligent, and does 
not reason, cannot Err. We are also equally safe 
in asserting that,— 

“ Positive Ignorance, which is a Negation, 
and does not reason, cannot Err. We also see 
that,— 

“The Deity is an Entity; 

And that,— 

“Positive Ignorance is a Nonentity. 

Error, therefore, must pertain to an Entity; but not 
to an Entity which knows ail things. It must also 
pertain to an Entity which has consciousness, in other 
words, which has some knowledge. A Stone exists, 
but is not conscious of its existence; it is entirely 
destitute of knowledge, and therefore cannot err. 
The state of Omni-knowledge is above Error: the 
state of Positive Ignorance, or utter unconsciousness, 
is below it: the state to which Error pertains is the 
state between. It follows, therefore, that an Erring 
Entity must be a conscious Entity : and that the 
Entity which is liable to Error, whilst falling short of 
the Maximum of knowledge that has no need of 
reason, must have the Minimum of knowledge before 
it is in a condition to reason: that is, it must be 
conscious of its own existence, and of the existence of 
things external to itself, before it can begin to per¬ 
ceive in what particulars things differ and agree. 
Hence, all Error has some Truth in it, as well as 


104 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part I. 


some Falsehood: and we shall not be far wrong in 
calling a Wrong Conviction— Pseudo-Knowledge; 
and the state of being to which it appertains— the 
Pseudo-Knowledge State. 

“ It is important, then, that we should discover 
what class or order of creatures belongs to this state; 
because herein Evil and Misery have their origin, and 
Degradation, and Falsehood, and Injustice have their 
existence, and their home, 

“ A Stone which neither lives, feels, nor thinks— 
cannot err. 

“ A Plant which grows and lives, but neither feels 
nor thinks—cannot err. 

“ An Insect which grows, lives, feels, and, perhaps, 
thinks—can it err ? If it thinks, and if its thought 
amount to that complex perception which would 
enable it to select means to an end it reasons, and 
may err. It will be seen that Dogs, Horses, Ele¬ 
phants, and all the lower animals are in the same 
predicament; they grow, live, feel, perceive, and per¬ 
haps reason. If their perception extends to the 
selection of means, that is, to a consciousness of the 
relation between cause and effect, they reason and 
may err. 

“ But have the lower animals this consciousness ? 
Do they really select means ? or is that which looks 
like Reason in them but the result of a law inherent 
in their nature, inseparable from animal life, and 
which we name blind Instinct—a power bestowed on 
them because of the accident of their existence ? As 


Chap. VII.] 


THE ALPHA. 


105 


we proceed we shall see reasons for inclining us to 
this latter opinion ; because this power, whether it be 
instinct or reason, is always uniform and unvarying 
in the individual and in the species. If, however, 
they do reason they are liable to error: for if they 
never err, it is clear they do not reason. It is also 
manifest that, if they have the faculty of reason to 
the extent of selecting means to an end, the power is 
limited to their animal wants and necessities, and 
extends no further. The Hog and the Ox are not 
one whit more capable now than they were before the 
building of the Pyramids. 

“ Man lives, feels, thinks, and reasons : thinks and 
reasons, too, on things material and spiritual, far, far 
beyond his animal wants and necessities. Nor have 
we the slightest knowledge of any other creature in 
the universe which comes within the category in¬ 
cluded in this description. 

“ These are the circumstances which constitute the 
state of Fallibility, and False Knowledge; out of 
which comes our knowledge of Good and Evil; out 
of which the Vices and the Virtues spring, and all 
the multitude of Evils and Miseries which have led 
millions to the false conclusion that there is no God. 
Here we have the Human Soul with its Apti¬ 
tude POR KNOWLEDGE, ITS NECESSITY FOR KNOW¬ 
LEDGE, and its boundless Desire to know. Here 
we have the Means of administering to the Neces¬ 
sity, and of gratifying the Desire. And, in order 
that Happiness might be the result of our acquisi- 


106 


THE ALPHA. 


[Pabt I. 


tions, here is the Liability to Error ; and here are 
the Evils which serve as Stimulants to the Desire, 
and as Contrasts to the Happiness : for, as with¬ 
out a sense of fatigue we could form no conception 
of rest, so without its converse we should be unable 
to appreciate Happiness. So all-important is Know¬ 
ledge, that we could not by any possibility taste of 
Happiness but by Knowing that we are Happy; nor 
could we know that we are happy, but by the actual 
experience of its opposite. 

“ There is, then, a necessity for Ignorance, hence 
we are born ignorant: for we could not feel the 
happiness of Knowledge but through the want of it; 
and as the experience cannot be dispensed with, every 
Soul begins its being with the smallest quantity of 
knowledge — namely, the consciousness of its own 
existence; to which is inseparably conjoined, a sense 

OF THE NECESSITY OF KNOWING, AND AN INSATIABLE 

Desire to know. 

“ There is, however, no necessity for Error; but 
only a Liability thereto. Man is the only creature 
prone to this Liability, and the circumstances which 
induce this Liability constitute the state of Pseudo- 
Knowledge. 

“ The Errors he commits in his reasonings are the 
natural results, the purposed results, and no doubt, 
on the whole, the beneficent results, of that free choice 
of means to an end of which it is the privilege of 
Man in his imperfect, or pseudo-knowledge state, to 
avail himself. 


Chap. VII.] 


THE ALPHA. 


107 


“ How erroneous his selection has been will be 
seen hereafter. Our present business has been to 
discover the source of Error; and we find it origi¬ 
nating with Man. We shall subsequently see that 
the results of this error are as extended as the Earth— 
the circle wherein, by Divine permission, Man’s 
error-directed will is Law. 

“ Man is an Erring Being: and from this circum¬ 
stance has arisen the notion that he is a ‘ fallen’ 
creature, naturally sinful, and—more shocking still— 
cursed by his Creator from the beginning, and inca¬ 
pable of salvation except through a crucified Redeemer! 
Man is an Erring Being—there is no possibility of 
escaping the conviction : he is liable to Error; but 
instead of this being a humiliating circumstance, it is 

most ennobling and consolatory.-He is the only 

creature on Earth endued, like his Creator, with an 
independent Will.-He alone is capable of intel¬ 
lectual progress.-He is an embryo, incarnate God. 

-The more we investigate his nature and capa¬ 
bilities, the less possibility will there be of escaping 
this most elevating conviction. 

“Presuming, for the sake of argument, that the 
lower animals think and reason in the manner of 
humanity, let us see what constitutes the difference 
between mankind and them. 

“ I have already remarked that Man thinks and 
reasons on a greater variety of subjects, and takes a 
much wider range of observation and rational deduc¬ 
tion than the brute. That which looks like reason 






108 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part I. 


in the lower animals seems to be confined in its ope¬ 
rations to a few material objects that come within— 
I will not say the range of their observation, for their 
means of observation are much larger than they seem 
to use—but that come wfithin the range of their animal 
necessities. 

“ It is true, Man, as an animal, has a wider range 
of necessities, real, artificial, or imaginary, than the 
brute, the bird, or the insect has ; and this sufficiently 
explains why his observation should be more active 
and extended. 

“But Man’s reasonings and researches are not 
confined to material things, nor limited to his animal 
wants. On the contrary, he is as conscious of the 
existence of spiritual things, though viewless and 
impalpable, as he is of material things which he can 
see and handle; and in all ages the spirit-world has 
been the world of his speculations, and of his hopes 
and fears. He loves, and has ever loved, to revel in 
Metaphysics, and, although this ennobling science has 
been hitherto a mystery, his love of the study has 
been his distinguishing characteristic. Notwith¬ 
standing that his erroneous reasonings have misled 
and bewildered him, he has never ceased to push for¬ 
ward his investigations. What he cannot prove to 
the satisfaction of his reason, he yet believes on the 
evidence of probability, and the indistinct promptings 
of his spirit. He glories, and has ever gloried, in 
sublime conceptions, and in fantastic and beautiful 


Chap. VII.] 


THE ALPHA. 


109 


imaginings. He has missed his way in the pursuit 
of Truth; but all beautiful and mysterious unrealities 
have been snatched at to supply its place, and gratify 
his intellectual cravings. Look at the Literature he 
has called into existence : how full of gorgeous imagery, 
and of noble thoughts, and of incipient creation ! Even 
out of Error, unrealities, and falsehood, he has created 
an ideal world of which the worst that can be said 
of it is — that the beings which people it bear too 
much resemblance to his own erroneous ideal of 
himself. 

“ And why all this ? What is the inevitable infer¬ 
ence to be drawn from these positions ? Why, that, 
not to administer merely to his wants as an animal 
was this desire after spiritual truth implanted in his 
nature; but to stock his soul with knowledge. And 
to what end ? Why, that he might fit himself for the 
immortality, the eternity of existence, for which every 
fact of his nature proves that he is destined. 

“ He observes effects in Nature, and, with the same 
ardour as he pursues spiritual investigations, he 
strives to discover their causes : and much as there 
is to do, how much has he already accomplished ! 
Now, whenever he perceives an effect in Nature, and 
succeeds in discovering the cause, he has added to 
his souks intelligence; he is one step nearer to the 
Angels; he has enlarged and strengthened his rela¬ 
tionship to his God. 

“ ‘Well but/ say you, ‘does not the Beaver in 


110 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part T. 


damming up the stream, observe effects, discover 
causes, and apply the results of its knowledge to its 
purposes and wants ? ’ 

“ Probably not. Most likely the Beaver does its 
work under the influence of blind instinct, the law 
impressed on its nature that it may accomplish pur¬ 
poses necessary to its wants; and that without the 
slightest inkling of Cause and Effect, or the least idea 
of there being the slightest connection between them. 
But again 1 urge the distinction—if there be reason, 
it extends only to the limits of its necessities, and not 
one whit beyond. 

“ Man, however, does know the connection between 
cause and effect, and applies causes to produce effects 
which he does not find in Nature,—effects altogether 
new in their application; some useful, some only par¬ 
tially useful, and some having no use in the economy 
of life save the pleasure he feels in availing himself of 
the powers of Nature, and the employment of his 
faculties and knowledge in constructive creation. 

“ Consider what he has achieved in this way! He 
has invented for himself a Language oral and written,— 
the means of multiplying his thoughts indefinitely, 
and, through a material medium, of almost eternalizing 
Mind. Look at his machinery : his labours in the 
Arts: his discoveries in Science ! He has dissected 
the Sunbeam i he has scaled the Heavens: he has 
weighed the Stars : he has tracked the Comets through 
infinitude : he has almost packed the Universe within 
the narrow limits of his little brain ! The Planets are 


Chap. VII.] 


THE ALPHA. 


Ill 


his familiar friends : he roams amongst the Constella¬ 
tions ; and predicates, prior to its absolute discovery, 
the existence and the whereabouts of an almost in¬ 
finitely distant Star! He has abstorted the Light¬ 
ning from the clouds : he has chained it to the earth: 
he has made this most subtle agent of Deity his Slave : 
by its aid he has conveyed his thoughts from one cor¬ 
ner of a vast continent to another with almost the 
speed of Light! And why the power to accomplish 
these things, all of which are so inconceivably beyond 
his wants as an animal, but to furnish his soul with 
knowledge and fit it for immortality ? He loves to 
know: he seeks out causation for the pleasure, or 
rather, for the Happiness it affords him; for when he 
succeeds in discovering a new truth he feels that he is 
participating in knowledge which was once possessed 
by the Deity alone. 

“ The great difference, then, between Man and the 
Lower Animals, (great as has been this stumbling- 
block to some delvers after Truth) consists in this :— 
the little knowledge which is acquired by the thinking 
principle in the Brute, Bird, and Insect, is that which 
is derived exclusively from material things; non¬ 
spiritual, non-speculative, non-imaginative; but simply 
necessary for their animal purposes and wants: whilst 
Man’s reason grapples with subjects the most compli¬ 
cated and involved ; whether material or immaterial; 
speculative or real; near or afar off; perceptible to 
his senses, or only cognizable by his understanding : 
whether only necessary to his animal wants, or a con- 


112 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part I. 


solation to his imprisoned Spirit—that embryo angel 
of eternity—his knowledge-needing Soul. 

“ Man naturally loves knowledge for its own sake, 
and would love it more if he lived in a social con¬ 
dition consonant with his desires, and adapted to his 
intellectual, as well as to his animal development and 
wants. Even as it is, he instinctively loves knowledge. 
A thinking, intellectual man, naturally, and, as it 
were, instinctively, seeks the companionship of think¬ 
ing, intellectual men: and, in proportion to his own 
mental acquisitions, he shuns and dislikes the society 
of the mere animal amongst his fellows. And why is 
this feeling interwoven in his nature, growing with 
his intellectual growth, and strengthening with its 
strength? There is no other reason than the one 
already assigned—the desire of the awakened soul for 
more and more intelligence. And why ? but that it 
will enjoy a separate and independent existence in its 
disembodied state for ever ? If we did not know that 
Intelligence, and its recipient, the soul, are incapable 
of destruction, these considerations alone would de¬ 
monstrate the fact. Scepticism, then, world-spanning 
as it is, has no peg left on which to hang a doubt. 

“ What a help to his progress in knowledge is that 
physical instrument of Man, his Hand! In considering 
its construction and capabilities we are almost tempted 
to exclaim—‘ the most beautiful piece of mechanism 
in the world!’ But perfect as it is, it is only perfect 
as a means to an end. It would not digest our food : 
for that purpose the stomach is more perfect than the 


Chap. VII.] 


THE ALPHA. 


113 


hand. The truth is, no one work of God is more or 
less perfect, more or less beautiful than another, and 
all comparisons between them are absurd. But why 
has this instrument with all its astonishing capabilities 
been bestowed on Man ? As an animal he might per¬ 
form nearly all his animal requirements without it: 
nay, if thought, perception, reflection, and reason were, 
as some have supposed, accidents; or, if not accidents, 
gifts which were to lead to nothing, he could think, 
perceive, reflect, and reason as well, though not so ex¬ 
tended^, without this instrument as with it. For 
what purpose was it, then, bestowed ? Some fallacious 
reasoners, who have laboured to persuade the world 
that men are merely animals, have said, that the 
Monkey and the Beaver have hands only a little 
less perfectly developed than those of Man. This as¬ 
sertion is false; but let us suppose it to be true. Say 
they have hands similar to the human hand. This, 
instead of linking the lower animals to humanity, 
(continuing the chain of being, as these pseudo-phi¬ 
losophers have affirmed, from an oyster up to a 
Franklin or a Shakspere), is the best proof of the most 
decided, the most complete division;—a barrier which 
is insurmountable. It proves this, that neither the 
Monkey nor the Beaver really reasons : for if these 
creatures were endued with the reasoning faculty, that 
is, with a knowledge-needing Soul , this instrument 
would have done, long ago, as much for them as it 
has done for the family of Man. Without it, Man 
would be a helpless brute despite of his reason ; whilst, 


i 


114 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part L 


wanting reason, the Chimpanzee remains a brute, 
despite of his human hand. Why, then, was this in¬ 
strument bestowed on reasoning Man ? Simply as a 
physical help to his mental acquisitions. This hand 
has been of a thousand times greater aid to his intel¬ 
lectual progress than to his physical wants. Clearly, 
then, as an intellectual aid was this physical instru¬ 
ment bestowed on all humanity. Again, why should 
it so pre-eminently minister to the Soul’s necessities, 
if the Soul be not immortal ? Even more than the 
Ear and Eye, why this Hand ? why Reason ? why that 
Soul-sense which outstrips Reason in the race for 
Knowledge,—which whispers of things that the phy¬ 
sical senses could never reach, of Realities to which 
Reason could never soar ? Why, in addition to these, 
the insatiable Desire to Know, if the knowledge- 
loving Soul were not immortal ? 

“We pereeive, then, that the only existence on the 
earth which lives, feels, thinks, and reasons, and 
which occupies its thought and reason on matters ex¬ 
traneous to itself, and beyond the sphere of its 
animal necessities and wants, is Man. Can he err ? 
Yes. Where there is Reason which might mistake 
its facts; or, knowing only a part, and reasoning 
thereon as though it were the whole; where there is 
a choice of means to an end, there must be liability to 
error. Were it not so Reason would be only another 
name for Infinite Intelligence, which has no need of 
Reason; or it would be blind Instinct, which has no 
choice. Hence, Error belongs exclusively to Humanity. 


Chap. VII.] 


THE ALPHA. 


115 


Infinite Intelligence cannot err.—Instinct cannot err. 

Man, occupying a middle state can err, 
and does. 

Linked to Infinite Intelligence by a reasoning soul— 
a chain which cannot breakto the Brute beasts by 
his brute wants and instincts,—a chain which death 
dissevers; a new Condition was introduced into the 
world at his creation; and a new Principle adapted 
to this new condition was the necessary consequence. 
The new Principle is the Intelligent Principle, with 
its attendant Will, governing its minor principle of 
action—the Desire to Know ; and its operations are 
confined to the Earth by the Laws to which the 
entire universe is subject. The new Condition is the 
Liability to Error. On this Earth where Man’s 
Will is absolute (that is, as absolute as his power), 
Error creates Evil; and from Evil results all the 
confusion which distracts humanity. Here we pam¬ 
per the vices by fostering the virtues. Here distinc¬ 
tions are created which being false cannot be eternal; 
and Miseries, which only a total reformation can 
subvert. 

“ Within this circle of Error, subject only to the 
Laws of his Creator which circumscribe his being, 
Man is a little Deity; and just as Ignorance pre¬ 
dominates within this circle, he will be prone to 
Error; and, as his knowledge increases, his liability 
to Error, and the evils thence arising, will decrease 
from sheer necessity. 

“ Now, in the beginning, Error led this little, self- 

i 2 


116 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part I. 


willed deity of Earth, to forget, or lay aside his god- 
ship. The most fatal shall I call it ? No ! for it was 

no less necessary than it was inevitable;-but, 

one of his Earliest Errors was the adoption of the 
brute force principle, ‘ Might is Right/ as the basis 
of his social system : —Crime was the inevitable con¬ 
sequence ! Then came Legislation; and Law; and 
Justice; and Mystic Religion; and the Virtues; and 
the Moralities: and Legislators to make the Law; 
and Lawyers to expound it; and Judges to dispense 
it: and Priests to explain the Religion; and Philoso¬ 
phers to explain the Moralities; and Metaphysicians 
to explain the mental confusion thence arising. Yet, 
no one is the wiser for the Metaphysics: no one is 
the better for the Morality: no one is the holier for 
the Religion. Justice is not Justice; but a sham. 
Law is brutality reduced to a system. Legislation is 
a disgrace to our humanity. And what wonder, 
since the whole of these contrivances are based on 
Error, and beyond the circle in which the human will 
is Law none of them have an existence! 

“ Yet, within this circle of Error and Evil there is 
such a thing as Truth. Truth and Knowledge are 
synonymous. Every real existence; every cause; 
every effect; every action—is a Fact. Every fact 
is referable to the First Fact, God. The human Soul 
is a fact. The Universe is a fact. Every individual 
portion of the Universe is a separate fact; that is, 
each entire portion might be contemplated as a sepa¬ 
rate fact. Every phasis of the human soul, influenced 



Chap. VII.] 


THE ALPHA. 


117 


as it is by the circumstances which environ it, may, 
in like manner, be viewed as a separate fact. The 
nature, and the purpose of all material things; their 
relationship to each other; and the relationship of 
every part to the whole, are so many Tacts. The 
nature of the human Soul; and the purpose for which 
it was created, are Tacts. Whatever we really know 
concerning these Tacts is Truth. We are now in 
possession of the Key to this Knowledge. To know; 
to collate; and systemize these individual Tacts; 
and to discover the principles which test their truth, 
and thus convince ourselves of their value and im¬ 
portance, is. Philosophy : and to live in obedience 
to the Laws which govern them and us; to conform 
and shape our desires, and direct our animal, as well 
as our intellectual instincts towards the true end and 
object of our being, is Religion. Love God; love 
one another, is the Religion of the 6 Redeemer/ 
Our principles conduct to this Religion. To love 
God we must know God; and this knowledge is the 
basis of our Philosophy. To love one another we 
must know one another; and the basis of this know¬ 
ledge is to know ourselves. There is no mystery, 
then, in the Philosophy we would teach the world: 
no exclusiveness in the Religion. The Religion is 
the Religion of Christ: the Philosophy is a simple, 
an intelligible guide to the happiness and well-doing 
of the entire family of Men. They are this, or they 
are nothing. 

“ Under the present false and artificial system, 


118 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part I. 


Yirtue is not distinguishable from Vice; Good from 
Evil; Right from Wrong; Innocence from Crime. 
Where one begins and the other ends it is impos¬ 
sible to discover: and what Religion is, and what is 
Irreligion, it is equally difficult to determine. As 
for Innocence and Crime they were Law-made in the 
beginning, and are Law-made still. That which is 
innocent to-day, Legislators might declare to be 
criminal to-morrow : whilst, by the same wonder¬ 
working alchemy, the crime of yesterday is pure, 
unspotted innocence to-day ! Presto ! and Wrong is 
Right! Presto ! and Right is Wrong again ! This 
is the Drama of Errors which men have been acting 
these six thousand years. The similarity between 
Right and Wrong—the Dromios of the play—creates 
the perplexing interest of every scene ; some of which 
are tragical, others comical, whilst some are down¬ 
right farce: and, however it may seem to answer the 
purpose of the ‘Stars’ and Eirst-class Actors, who 
put on and off their mimic dignity with their dresses 
(as Saints on Sunday nights doff their religion,) and 
who fancy themselves when dressed to be the falsely- 
august things they personate ; however it may gratify 
their vanity, and satisfy their brute lust for power,— 
to the throng of subordinates and supernumeraries it 
is a dreadful business. Life is to them a loathsome 
burden. The Sons and Daughters of the Deity are 
degraded below the level of the brute. To whatever 
uses you apply the Brute, it never loses its brute- 
dignity. Not so with Men. The Earth is converted 


Chap VII.] 


THE ALPHA. 


119 


into a stage where there is nothing real but the 
miseries. The actors are Buffoons, or Apes, or 
Thralls. ‘ Here Man, vain Man, dressed in a little, 
brief authority, plays such fantastic tricks before high 
Heaven that make the Angels weep/ When decked 
in our day-disguises we are mountebanks; merry- 
andrews ; robed, ermined, wigged, coroneted, and 
crowned, Pretenders. We are only Men and Women 
when we sleep; and then, sometimes, do Angels 
deign to visit us. 

“ The whole of this false grandeur, and the train 
of monstrous miseries of which it is the centre and 
the immediate cause, are the natural and inevitable 
results of Error. Error, however, is not eternal. It, 
and its Miseries will cease when men perceive the 
Truth. Till then they must be borne with. There 
is no ‘ happy medium’ between Truth and Error; 
and when' the Truth is seen the world will not be 
wanting in loving, Christian Spirits to help it forward, 
and advance the Millennium of Intellect, and intellec¬ 
tual Love. 

“ Erroneous, on the whole, as have been the labours 
of Philosophy hitherto; little as Plato, Zeno, Aris¬ 
totle, Socrates, and Bacon have really accomplished 
for the world, it would be unjust indeed not to own 
that these deep-reasoning, earnest men ever struggled 
hard in the cause of Truth; and because of this, 
whilst there is a man to reverence genius on the Earth 
their names will be affectionately remembered. 

“ But perhaps of all the pioneers of Truth, the 


120 


THE ALPHA. 


[I’art I. 


Poets have accomplished most: and, amongst these, 
I believe our own Shakspere had the keenest sense 
of Truth , and the largest and most catholic soul. 

“ But, to reform the original, wide-spread Error of 
mankind; to show the true social basis, and the way 
to happiness and an intellectual Heaven, came one 
diviner than them all: a Man all soul: without a 
particle of selfishness or animalism in his nature : he 
whose life was all humility, and gentleness, and love; 
— a love which encircled all men : he who when 
reviled reviled not again : he who died for the realities 
he came to teach,—one God, the immortality of the 
soul, and love as the social basis: he who, dying* 
blessed those who cursed him, and prayed his last 
prayer for those who nailed him to the cross; — 
‘ Eather, forgive them! they know not what they 
do!’ * 

“ When men shall understand his mission, injus¬ 
tice shall cease, and all mankind be happy.” 

Dionysius ceased. The vast assembly, as -though 
spell-bound by the earnest eloquence of the speaker, 
remained mute and immovable as death. Not a 
muscle stirred: not a breath disturbed the air. The 
entire auditory, methought, had hardened into marble. 
They were statues, and not living men. I seemed to 
have grown into marble myself. 1 tried to rise but 
could not; — to raise my arm ; — it was too pon¬ 
derous for my strength. I attempted to speak, but, 
was unable to articulate a word. I looked for Diony¬ 
sius, but he had gone. Again, music floated through 


Chap. VII.] 


THE ALPHA. 


121 


the arena, and so thrilled my whole frame, marble as 
I seemed to be, that life was almost insupportable. 
In an agony of pleasure I awoke. The music con¬ 
tinued ; but it was no longer the music of my dream. 
I soon recollected the occasion of it. It was Christ¬ 
mas morning. The Waits were performing a selection 
from Handel, “ Now unto us a child is given/’ beneath 
my window, in the clear, cold moonlight. I slept 
again from sheer exhaustion : and the same scene in 
the Abbey ; a huge auditory of statues—their marble 
features fixed in the similitude of deep attention— 
was the one stereotyped idea which haunted my 
fancy during my restless slumber. It was one dead, 
motionless monotony. The feeling became almost 
terrible. What must be that of a Murderer, in the 
world of spirits, with the ever-present idea of the 
guilt of a brother’s blood haunting him through all 
eternity ? It is a mercy that there is no such hell: 
that Society is responsible for our crimes ! 





PART THE SECOND. 


CHAPTER I. 

RANDOLPH. CIVILIS. 

I had been one evening relating, to a familiar ac¬ 
quaintance whom I will call Civilis, the foregoing 
particulars of the Alpha-vision, when the following 
conversation, touching the truth, practicability, and 
value of the Philosophy enunciated therein, occurred 
between us. 

Civilis. It is impossible, my dear Randolph, not 
to feel deeply interested in the singular revelation 
you have just made to me, whether it be regarded as 
the product of a dream, or as an incipient system of 
Philosophy of your own invention: nor can there be 
any difficulty in conceding to it the praise which is 
always due to originality. Much has been said and 
sung, in all periods of the world’s history, in praise 
of Knowledge; but, until now, none have exalted it 
above Religion. Many a shaft has been hurled at 
Vice and Crime; but, until now, Philosophy has 
never seriously assailed the Virtues. We have had 
apologists for Sin and Crime: but none to deny the 




124 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


abstract possibility of their existence. We have had 
thousands of zealous men enunciating schemes to 
mend the Civil and Religious polity of the world; 
but none who have proposed to demolish the entire 
structure. We have had deniers of this or that 
system of Religion or form of Government; but none 
who have denounced, and would uproot them all. 
I almost tremble to recount your merits : yet there 
you sit, Randolph, calm as the moonbeams on the 
waves that have just swallowed an Armada. 

Randolph. You must consider my tranquillity, 
Civilis, to be the consequence of my knowledge. I 
know my critic is a friendly one, notwithstanding this 
“thundering in the index.” 

Civilis. Seriously, my dear Randolph, this dream 
has made a deep impression on my mind; and, 
although there is something so startling in your 
Philosophy—for I must call it yours—I am more 
than half persuaded of its entire truth. If it be 
really true it must be both practical, and pre¬ 
eminently important. But, in this case, what a mass 
of untruth have mankind to unbelieve as a conse¬ 
quence of its adoption ! It is this astounding thought 
concerning the old system, rather than any lack of 
evidence I have yet discovered in favour of the new, 
that counsels me to pause before I discard, as totally 
erroneous in principle, all the time-honoured institu¬ 
tions which I have been accustomed to reverence no 
less for their apparent worth than for their antiquity. 
You know I am a Lawyer, and therefore accustomed 


Chap I.] 


THE ALPHA. 


125 


to deal with evidence; and that, on sufficient evi¬ 
dence, I can believe anything. You know also (not¬ 
withstanding my profession, Randolph), that I have 
some title to the character of a religious man; and, 
as such, am naturally an admirer, and, I hope, to 
some extent a practiser, of the Moralities and the 
Virtues which, according to your system, are hence¬ 
forward to be regarded as blots on our social 
system. 

Randolph. No, Civilis; not exactly as blots, but 
rather, excrescences, which the blots called Vice and 
Crime make beautiful by comparison. 

Civilis. I stand corrected—-as beautiful excres¬ 
cences that under a really rational system could have 
no existence. You will not wonder, therefore, that I 
feel some reluctance to embrace a system which pro¬ 
poses at the first convenient opportunity to dispense 
with them. I confess that there is much in our 
present social system that needs reformation, as well 
as some doctrines inculcated by our Christian creed 
which are weak, if not absolutely indefensible: but I 
think you will allow that this is not a sufficient reason 
for abjuring them for others which may look more 
perfect in theory (but which it may be impossible to 
reduce to practice), except on the clearest and most 
conclusive evidence. Am I right in my obduracy in 
favour of my old faith ? 

Randolph. Perfectly, Civilis: and the more so, 
inasmuch as our new philosophy repudiates Faith 
altogether, and asks for no assent but that which 


126 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part IT. 


springs from a full conviction. By Faith I do not 
mean Belief. Let me illustrate my meaning by 
examples. On the banks of the Tigris, about two 
hundred miles above the junction of that river with 
the Euphrates, stands a city called Bagdad. I know 
this City. I have lived there. The fact of its exist¬ 
ence is not with me a matter of Faith, neither is it 
Belief. The fact does not rest on testimony, but on 
positive knowledge. By Faith, therefore, I do not 
mean Knowledge. Again, I am told that the poet 
Byron swam across the Hellespont at a place where 
this channel is three miles wide. I have myself swum 
a mile. My informant as to the greater feat is a man 
of probity: he has no interest in deceiving me. I 
reflect that if one man can swim a mile (a fact within 
my own cognizance), it is within the limits of possi¬ 
bility that another might swim three miles. I do 
not know that it is true; but the thing being pos¬ 
sible, and authenticated to my satisfaction, I adopt it 
as a true fact; in other words, I believe it. This 
is not knowledge obtained, as in the former case, 
entirely through-the evidence of my own senses; but 
knowledge which rests partly on testimony, and 
partly on a corroborative fact which I know to be 
true. My adoption of the fact as truth is not Faith, 
but Belief. Again. Another person tells me that 
the poet did not swim across the Hellespont, but 
walked across on the surface of the water, just as he 
might have walked across a field. In this case my 
knowledge of the properties of water renders it im- 


Chap. I.] 


THE ALPHA. 


127 


possible for me to adopt this fact as truth. Belief 
demands some corroborative knowledge derived 
through the testimony of my own senses; some 
proof of its possibility. If I consent to adopt this 
fact as truth—(I am here supposing what I cannot 
imagine to be possible, a conscientious assent , not a 
feigned one ); this is not Belief, but a total abandon¬ 
ment of self to the adoption as truth of a rationally 
impossible fact. This is what I understand by Faith. 
We can believe in the extraordinary and the im¬ 
probable. The miraculous and the impossible de¬ 
mand Faith. There can be no Belief (by which I 
mean a rational and conscientious conviction), without 
some actual, corroborative knowledge of our own 
with respect to the fact believed. Whenever, there¬ 
fore, the term Faith is used as a synonyme of Belief, 
it must be in reference to facts that are believable; 
and which are believable because we know them to 
be possible. But this excludes all facts such as the 
birth of the once-expected Shiloh without the agency 
of a human father. People are sometimes wont to 
escape this dilemma by averring that with God all 
things are possible. This, however, is a fallacy; 
for the act of Belief is impossible to God. To con¬ 
stitute an act of belief two things are necessary, nay 
three;—first, prior ignorance of the fact to be com¬ 
municated; secondly, a Communicator who knows 
something which the Recipient does not know; and, 
thirdly, corroborative knowledge by which the Reci¬ 
pient can test the probability of its truth : all which, 


128 


THE ALPHA. 


[Pabt II. 


with God, are clearly impossible; yet possible with 
Man. 

Civjlis. But is it impossible that, God so willing 
it, Shiloh might have been conceived of Johanna 
Southcott without the agency of a human father P 
in other words, is a miracle impossible P 

Randolph. There can be no doubt of God’s 
ability to perform this act; for, to us, every act of 
creation is a miracle. But since God himself has 
so constituted the human mind that we cannot 
believe in any fact without testimony, conjoined to 
some knowledge of our own by which to estimate 
the probability of its truth, it is impossible that 
God could make our Faith in a miracle, a sine qua 
non of our salvation. It is impossible, there¬ 
fore, that there can be any efficacy in 
Faith. 

Civilis. I should like to hear your definition of 
a miracle. 

Randolph. By a miracle I mean any occurrence 
out of the ordinary course of nature, and in violation 
of the Laws of nature: as if a stone should hang 
suspended in the air without any visible or con¬ 
ceivable support; or a tree uproot itself and walk 
about. There is no merit in believing a thing 
which is believable : nor is there any demerit in 
disbelieving any circumstance which in the nature 
of things we feel to be impossible. I believe in 
God’s ability to suspend Saint Paul’s Cathedral in 
the air, but where is the merit of my belief, seeing 


Chap. II.] 


THE ALPHA. 


129 


that it is based on the mightier evidences of his 
Power within and around me? But I disbelieve 
that God does so suspend such ponderous bodies, 
because I never saw an evidence or exemplification 
of the fact; and in what consists the demerit of my 
unbelief ? I may assert that I believe it: but without 
some circumstance-compelling influence acting on me 
from without, even this, Civilis, would be impossible. 

Ciyilis. I perceive it: I am satisfied: you have 
convinced me of the inefficacy and uselessness of 
Paith. But a thought occurs to me. You said just 
now that every act of creation is a miracle. In this 
case, the creation of the first pair of the human 
species was a miracle. They could not have had 
any natural progenitors: the act which gave them 
being was contrary to the Law, or altogether in¬ 
dependent of it, by which all things reproduce 
their like, and must have been the result of a special 
intervention. Whether our First Parents proceeded 
from the Earth, the Sea, the Air, or from one of the 
inferior Animals, the fact remains the same; their 
production was the result of a special ordination. 
And the same must be true of every distinct class of 
creatures, and even of every distinct form of vege¬ 
table life : each must be a distinct act of creation, 
special, or extra-judicial, in its nature. How, then ? 
do you reconcile this fact with what, if I mis¬ 
take not, you assert in the Alpha-vision, to the 
effect that the lower animals, notwithstanding their 
priority on the Earth, are the accidental results of 

K 


130 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


a general Law which had for its primary object the 
bestowal of animal life on the human species ? 

Randolph. A Creature when once produced, is 
immediately rendered subject to the Law which regu¬ 
lates its reproduction or continuance. But there is 
a Principle prior to this Law, the operations of which 
principle are as inscrutable as those of the Law just 
mentioned. This principle is a Law impressed on 
Matter by means of which Life is bestowed, and 
new Creatures produced out of new Circumstances; 
which circumstances are pre-ordained to arise for 
the very purpose of their production. I suppose 
that the Primary purpose of all Creation was the 
production of Man, and that the material world 
was formed for his development. The Life-bestowing 
Principle was necessary in the Matter, or material 
globe on which he was to have his existence; and 
many other forms of life, both vegetable and 
animal, were necessary also that the purpose of his 
existence might be accomplished. That he might 
have a probationary existence under circumstances 
necessary to his full development and ultimate 
happiness, the Life-giving principle conferred on 
Matter, produced, prior to his own advent, such 
vegetables and animals as were preparatory to his 
existence ; and, contemporaneously with his appearance , 
such as were essential to his wants. Thus, all 
other existences and forms of life had reference to 
him :—they the accidents, and he the object of 
the Law which gave both him and them their being. 


Chap. L] 


THE ALPHA. 


131 


Not as separate acts of Creation, therefore, but as 
foreknown results of this Principle, was every 
distinct form of existence, each at its proper time, 
produced. This subject is theoretical, and is so 
treated in the Alpha-vision ; and the discussion of it, 
though interesting, is a deviation from the subject in 
hand; namely, the truth of the DionysianPhilosophy; 
—but I hope the explanation I have given to your 
question is a satisfactory solution of your difficulty. 

Civilis. Perfectly so, as well as altogether con¬ 
sistent with the nature, and what we call the attributes 
of the Deity, out of which you deduce the Principle 
which is the basis of your Philosophy. To convince 
myself thoroughly of the truth of this principle must 
be my own work; and I promise to devote thereto the 
time and study necessary to its accomplishment. 
But to aid me in this task, I must request you to re¬ 
capitulate, with what brevity you please, the leading 
facts of your argument, and the particular results to 
which they tend. 

Randolph. This I will do right willingly, Civilis; 
but, suffer me first to show you how the conviction we 
have just arrived at dissipates that bugbear on which 
so much charlatanry and delusion rests—the doctrine of 
Sin and Crime, and Future Punishment. If, Civilis, 
what is proved to a man’s full conviction he must believe , 
there can be no merit in his belief: and if whatever 
lacks a satisfying proof it is impossible that he can 
believe , there can be no demerit in his unbelief: and, 
since there can be no intelligent and voluntary act that 


132 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


is not impelled by a conviction, either rational or erro¬ 
neous ; or by some social influence, whether right or 
Wrong, which is as arbitrary as conviction, it is clear 
that a man does only what he must do: and as there is 
neither merit nor demerit in the conviction, there can 
be neither merit nor demerit in the resultant act: 
therefore, there is neither Sin, nor Crime, nor future 
Punishment with respect to them. 

Civilis. I admit the conclusiveness of your logic, 
Randolph, with regard to Sin. Sin is an impossibility, 
and Satan a chimera: I have a more exalted notion 
of the Deity ; and I am a thousand times happier for 
the knowledge. But my conviction is not so clear in 
respect to Crime. Crime, I perceive, is an act having 
reference to man alone, and to Society. It is the con¬ 
travention of a Law between man and man: and to 
contravene a just law must certainly be a Crime. 

Randolph. A Just Law! yes, Civilis: but were 
Laws Just —a thing within the limits of possibility— 
there could be no Motive for their infraction. A Just 
Law must be based on Man's true nature, physical 
and intellectual, and have especial reference to the 
purpose of his being : it must be equally beneficial 
and necessary to all men. A man, convinced 
of its justice, could not break it: a man too ignorant 
to feel this conviction, might contravene it, and pro¬ 
bably would. But the infraction would be the natural 
consequence of an erroneous conviction : and this, in 
the eye of Reason, is not a Crime; and Enlightenment, 
not Punishment, is the remedy. 


Chap. I.] 


THE ALPHA. 


133 


Civilis. I perceive it, my dear Randolph; you are 
right. Rewards and Punishments are not resorted to 
by the Deity; and ought not to be resorted to by 
men. Alas ! what are the cumbrous labours of a life¬ 
time, if they are based on error ! You are making a 
Man of me; but the Lawyer’s occupation’s gone ! 
What a pile of goodly, calf-cased Law-tomes, full of 
Statutes, Precedents, Pleadings, Interpleadings, Cases, 
Quirks, and Quiddities, you have converted into 
waste-paper by a Syllogism ! Shades of Blackstone, 
Bentham, Littleton, and Coke! no wonder I should 
have been so frequently perplexed by your profundity ! 
My dear Randolph, I see it all. There is no Hell. 
no after-retribution. Truth is its own rewarder; its 
own reward : and Error brings its own retribution in 
the shape the evil it produces. Every instant we are 
judged: and there is no “recording angel” noting 
down the backslidings of each of us preparatory to the 
grand account! I do confess, Randolph, that I have 
often thought this mode of keeping Ledger accounts 
against us made Heaven too much like a City 
Counting-house, and the Angels too like Clerks to 
whom a Sabbath could rarely or never come! 
seriously; it is a subject I never dared to dwell 
upon; and even now, when I see the absurdity 
of it—the humanism of the contrivance, I feel shocked 
at the irreverence of the parallel my fancy had begun 
to draw. How like their worser selves have Men 
made Deity! I perceive the error, and all its de¬ 
grading consequences. It has been down, down’ 


134 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


down, making a multitude of false distinctions between 
men proportioned to the depth of their degradation, 
until, at the bottom of the scale, the spiritual image 
of the Deity is drudge to a man who is something less 
of a drudge to another man, who waits behind the 
c hair of some sycophant, who is sycophant to some¬ 
one else that deems himself honoured if he might 
meekly kneel to Royalty, or kiss the reeking toe of his 
Holiness the Pope! 

Randolph. We have seen, Civilis, that Sin and 
Crime are impossibilities ; and that were Laws really 
Just, it would be the interest of all men, and, in 
proportion to their enlightenment, their desire also 
to observe them. Such Laws must be adapted to 
Man’s true nature, the purpose of his being, and his 
real wants. What these are our Philosophy plainly, 
and unmistakably sets forth. “ But your philosophy 
is not true,” will be said by whole legions of preju¬ 
diced detractors. They will say, because on erroneous 
reasoning they believe it, “ Man’s nature is sinful: 
he is a creature of vile passions, prone to all sorts of 
villany and mischief; and that Laws must be made 
stringent, and punishments severe, to restrain his 
natural propensities to crime and evil-doing.” This 
has ever been the cry against poor human nature. 
And taking this libellous description on trust, or 
reasoning on Man as they find him writhing under 
the operation of Laws which (the results of Igno¬ 
rance) have rendered him all this, —Poets, Histo¬ 
rians, Novelists, Satirists, Painters, Moralists, and 


Chap. I.J 


THE ALPHA. 


135 


Philosophers of every calibre and kind, have amused 
their learned leisure, and displayed their penetration 
and their wit, by so depicting him: and ages must 
roll away before the simple truth, that the soul is 
incapable of blot or stain, will find its way to men’s 
convictions. Yes, Civilis, we shall go on caricaturing 
one another, each for the other’s amusement and his 
own gain, until the corroding lie shall have eaten 
itself out. The great bulk of the untruth which we 
treasure up as Knowledge consists of these pernicious 
calumnies. We shall have other opportunities of 
examining this fallacious knowledge a little more in 
detail. I will avail myself of the present occasion to 
recapitulate the Pacts, in the order of their succession, 
which establish the Principle by which this pseudo¬ 
knowledge must be tested. 

Civilis. Do so, my dear Randolph; for I have 
too much of the Lawyer yet left within me, to pass by 
Precedents as nothing, and yield, without a struggle, 
to evidence which has such an overwhelming weight 
of authority, as you have just alluded to, against it. 
What! Poets, Philosophers, Moralists, Metaphy¬ 
sicians, and Divines, all wrong? 

Randolph. Ay, Civilis, every soul of them; 
all mad, save in their lucid intervals ; and these have 
seldom come to any but the Poets; and to them, 
only in, what other men have denominated, their 
maddest moods. 

Civilis. Your Philosophy is strangely beautiful, 
Randolph; I long to be convinced that it is wholly true. 


136 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


Randolph. There is nothing beautiful that is not 
true. There is nothing true that is not beautiful. 
It was in searching for Beauty that I discovered 
Truth. Its temple stands in the centre of an artificial 
labyrinth composed of the most complicated windings, 
in which many lose themselves; whilst millions are 
deluded by the specious Falsehoods met with on the 
way, and over-written—“ This is the Truth, and he 
who doubts is doomed/'’ But, Civilis, he who would 
reach the temple round which this wildering maze 
of thorns and briars is planted, must overleap these 
artificial fences, or hew his way right onward, instinct- 
led, having an unwavering confidence in God and his 
own Soul. God is Truth, Civilis; and every natural 
instinct of the soul guides us to God. There are as 
many Revelations as there are souls to need them : 
each is a revelation in itself, to itself, for itself; 
which is a greater marvel than any of the • spurious 
marvels out of which a periodical, soul-less worship 
has proceeded. 

Civilis. What is this Instinct of the Soul of 
which you speak ? 

Randolph. The Desire for that one thing in 
which all others are included, Civilis, Knowledge; 
and, conjoined thereto, a mysterious perception of 
hidden truth — a kind of Sympathy or Presentiment, 
by which this desire is frequently responded to, if 
not anticipated; and this, without any immediate aid 
from Reason or the senses. This is true; involving 
no contradiction; and is consistent with the power 


Chap. I.] 


THE ALPHA. 


137 


and nature of the Deity, and the evident purpose for 
which the soul has its existence : what need, there¬ 
fore, of a marvel in the nature of a Miracle, which 
does involve a contradiction; which proclaims itself 
as untrue, because unnatural; which has no intelli¬ 
gible purpose ; and which, in consequence, degrades 
the Deity even in the estimation of his creatures ? 

Civtlis. I perceive your aim, and agree with 
your conclusion. To work a miracle is inconsistent 
with the nature, and beneath the dignity of God. 
Pardon the interruption. You were about to show 
me how Beauty leads to Truth, and the source of 
Truth—the Deity. 

Randolph. That which men call Beauty, Civilis, 
is the result produced in the Mind by certain plea- 
sure-giving Principles in nature, which are more or 
less vividly felt and appreciated through our Soul- 
instincts, but which are only fully recognised and 
understood by the aid of our Reason, and by reflec¬ 
tion. We say that the Horse is a beautiful animal: 
we ask ourselves why? we compare it with other 
creatures, and other things ; as the Human Form, the 
Antelope, the Greyhound, a Vase, a Leaf, a Plower: 
we perceive that there is one circumstance peculiar to 
them all; the outline (as we call the extremities of 
things) is composed of curves. All motion is curvi¬ 
linear : all the heavenly bodies are circular: the 
Earth is a circle: the Sea forms a portion of this 
circle. Water, therefore, which we are apt to say 
seeks a level, is not level, but even in a teacup, 


138 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


partakes of the great circle of the Earth. Cut a 
canal ten miles in length, and make it a true mathe¬ 
matical level; it is impossible to fill it with water. 
The circle in some of its thousand varieties of curve, 
enters more or less into nearly all natural forms. 
We perceive, that, modified by another principle 
which is peculiar to the straight line, all curvilinear 
forms are pleasure-giving, and are thence deemed 
beautiful. But why? The straight line runs into 
infinitude : it has not in itself the property of encom¬ 
passing anything : a cube of an inch might be but a 
portion of a cube of infinite dimensions: it has not 
the quality of completeness : two straight lines run¬ 
ning parallel for ever could not enclose anything. 
The curve, on the contrary, has this property of com¬ 
pleteness in its very nature. A circle of an inch 
diameter is a thing complete in itself: it is not, it 
cannot be, a portion of a larger circle. The mind 
cannot contemplate infinitude : the thought is beyond 
its grasp : the idea is never perfect: we cannot com¬ 
prehend and know it. The feeling is sublime : there 
is awe but not pleasure in it. Not so with the circle : 
no matter how immense it be, the mind can travel 
round it, and this instantly and without an effort: 
there is something distinct from all other things: 
something it can contemplate, comprehend, and 
know. This we perceive is the reason why curvi¬ 
linear forms afford us pleasure. We want Know¬ 
ledge. To exist, and to be conscious of our existence, 
and to be shut out from further knowledge, we feel 


Chap. I.] 


THE ALPHA. 


139 


would be no more to us than a living death : we 
need Knowledge, therefore, we desire to obtain it: 
we have an instinctive love of it, as well as of those 
circumstances in things which render its attainment 
possible or easy. By whom was this Soul-instinct 
implanted within us ? By the Deity whom our souls 
instinctively acknowledge to be the author of our 
being. Then, what is Deity? Do you follow me, 
Civilis ? 

Civilis. Ay, Randolph; I think I entirely com¬ 
prehend you. There is no such thing as Beauty; 
but there are eternal Principles in the nature or con¬ 
stitution of all created things, each in harmony with 
the other, and that in tracing them to their source 
we arrive at the Pirst Principle, which is Deity. 

Randolph. Truly, Civilis : and what is Deity in 
whom the sentient Soul beholds its parentage ? 
Plands did not make the wonders of creation ; nor 
fabricate the spiritual soul; nor construct the subtle 
principles which move and influence both Mind and 
Matter. It is obvious that a Power greater than 
these willed their existence. A Spiritual Power ; 
for the material cannot fabricate the immaterial. An 
Intelligent Power ; for that which thinks not 
cannot, first, purpose the existence, and then cause 
the existence of that which thinks. What, then, is 
Power? Power is Intelligence. We call Intelli¬ 
gence Power when we reflect on its results : but, 
whether in action or repose, the motive-principle of 
all Power is Intelligence. What, then, is Intelli- 


140 


THE ALPHA. 


[Past II. 


gence ? Think of it through all eternity, Civilis, and 
you will not resolve it into elements. It is itself the 
Element, the moving, conscious cause of all things ; 
the First Principle ; the DEITY. The very Per¬ 
fection of the Godhead is Intelligence. It will be 
necessary to make sure of this first Pact, Civilis, before 
you deduce therefrom the subsequent Facts of the 
series which form the System. Are you satisfied 
that the Nature and Perfection of Deity is In¬ 
telligence ? 

Civilts. I am satisfied that there cannot be any 
Power which is not traceable to Intelligence. I am 
satisfied also that there is not a Virtue or an Attribute 
that it is possible to ascribe to Deity which is not 
also reducible to Intelligence : so that whatever be 
the Essence to which this Quality inheres, its motive 
principle must be Intelligence. My reason for 
giving you a circuitous, instead of a direct answer 
to your question is this :—If the Creator of the uni¬ 
verse be nothing but Intelligence, it is apparent that 
the knowledge of the Deity (if I may so express 
myself), is limited to the results of His own Laws. 
For, as nothing could have existed prior to Deity, so 
the Deity has nothing to know but what is sub¬ 
sequent to itself, and caused by its own will: and as 
the attainment of Knowledge is a Happiness, and I 
believe, the only Happiness of which the human 
Soul is capable, it follows that God has no beatitude, 
save in the contemplation of His own Works, which 
would seem to be a less happy condition than His 


CnAP. I.] 


THE ALPHA. 


141 


Beneficence has made possible for his Creatures, 
inasmuch as their Happiness is the result of their 
prior Ignorance. 

Randolph. Truly, Civilis: but this, instead of 
being a difficulty, suggests the highest and most 
God-like Motive for the creation, by the Deity, of 
Man, and probably of other forms of intelligent crea¬ 
tures in the other globes which are poised in Space— 
Creatures who begin their conscious existence in 
Ignorance, that, through misery, they might ultimately 
attain to a Happiness greater than that which results 
from Conscious Power in the Deity; but inferior to 
that resulting from the exercise of His Love. As no 
higher motive is conceivable for the creation of the 
insentient, material universe than the production of 
sentient, immaterial Beings, who, through Ignorance 
and Error might attain to Knowledge and Beatitude, 
we have an intelligible and most gratifying reason for 
the creation of Man. And as the sole Perfection of 
Deity is Intelligence, it is not possible for the Human 
Soul to have a higher aim than Knowledge, or to arrive 
at its Perfection by any other means. And further- 
Civilis; as Deific Intelligence results in Love, which 
is the felicity of Distribution, added to that which 
belongs to the consciousness of Possession ; so, as a 
motive for the Equal Distribution of Knowledge 
amongst Men, the Love which prompts this distri¬ 
bution, is beneficently made an addition to the felicity 
which attends its Possession and attainment. Erom 
these rationally-ascertained Pacts, Civilis, we arrive at 


142 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


these conclusions : First, that the only means by which 
the attainment of Perfection and Happiness is possible, 
is Knowledge: secondly, that to get Knowledge is the 
one great Purpose of human existence: and, thirdly, 
that to disseminate our knowledge amongst all our 
brethren is, not a duty only, but the highest con¬ 
ceivable privilege with which the Deity could endue 
humanity, 

Civilis. It is impossible to dispute either your 
premises, or your conclusions, my dear Randolph. I 
am satisfied that Deity is Intelligence, and that all 
possible perfection is included in the term. I am also 
satisfied that the Human Soul is an intelligent Prin¬ 
ciple, capable of Knowledge, and incapable of Perfec¬ 
tion, or of any permanent Happiness, save through the 
means of Knowledge. I admit that to get Knowledge 
is the end for which the Spiritual Soul has its exist¬ 
ence. I perceive that what we call Consciousness 
(which is more an instinct than a self-made acqui¬ 
sition) is the first knowledge of the Human Soul. I 
perceive also that perception is only another name for 
Consciousness; that Reason is Complex Perception; 
and that Reason and those Soul-instincts which out¬ 
strip Reason in the pursuit of Knowledge, are the 
means appointed for its acquisition. I perceive that 
Knowledge signifies an acquaintance with Truth. I 
perceive, moreover, that every Truth is not of equal 
value as an addition to the Souks stock of Knowledge: 
for example:—the knowledge which acquaints me 
with the true purpose of my existence is manifestly 


Chap. I.] 


THE ALPHA. 


143 


more important than the knowledge conveyed to me in 
Mrs. Fitzhog’s gilt-edged epistle of yesterday to the 
effect that her myrtle is about to blossom, and that 
her dear husband is a brute. What I next want to 
arrive at is (seeing that we may err in our reasoning), 
how we are to know always what is Truth: and next 
how we may arrive at a correct estimate of its value. 

Randolph. You admit, Civilis, that every work of 
a Being of Infinite Intelligence must be perfect as a 
means to an end? 

Civilis. Certainly. 

Randolph. The Author of the Universe is the 
Creator of Man. There must have been a purpose in 
his creation, as well as a self-acting principle in the 
Creature capable of the accomplishment of the purpose ? 

Civilis. Clearly, my dear Randolph: for, other¬ 
wise, the means to an end would be defective, which 
with God is impossible. 

Randolph. It is clear that the Purpose of his ex¬ 
istence is the attainment of knowledge, and that the 
Intelligent Principle or Soul (with its inherent per¬ 
ception, its power of abstraction, and its intuitive love 
of truth), is that self-acting Principle which has the 
capability of discovering Truth. If there were many 
sources of Truth, there might be many sorts of Truth, 
differing in nature according to the difference in 
nature of their several authors : but as there can be 
but One Author, all Truth must be consistent in its 
nature with the nature of its author, and resolvable 
into it. Plaving ascertained beyond the possibility of 


414 


THE ALPHA. 


[Pabt II. 


doubt or cavil what Deity in its nature is, we have 
the First Truth, which is of necessity the test of all 
other truth. It is impossible that anything can be 
true with regard to the Deity that is inconsistent with 
the perfection of its Intelligence. We have ascertained, 
beyond the possibility of doubt or cavil, what the 
Human Soul is, and what is the Purpose of its exist¬ 
ence. It is impossible that anything can be true with 
regard to the Human Soul that is inconsistent with the 
nature of the Human Soul, or with the Purpose for 
which it was created. This, Civilis, is an answer to 
your question, “ How is Truth always to be known ?” 
And now as to the mode of estimating its value. All 
truth is valuable, which, based on the First Truth, 
conduces to the end for which the Soul was created; 
namely, to make constant approaches to the Deity 
through a knowledge of His purposes and works; and 
the Laws by which the former are accomplished, and 
the latter regulated. This is the standard by which 
to measure the spiritual value of all Truth. Meted 
thereby, it is clear that Mrs. Fitzhog’s very believable 
testimony as to the blossoming of her myrtle is but of 
small value, perhaps none: whilst that which repre¬ 
sents her husband to be a brute (though perhaps quite 
as believable as the other), is valuable only as a proof 
of the evil which results from Ignorance : for Mr. Fitz- 
hog could not indulge in practices which level him 
with the brute creation, if he knew positively that he 
is a Man, having the privilege to become a God. 
You see, therefore, Civilis, that Reason and the Soul- 


Chap. !.] 


THE ALPHA. 


145 


instincts of Men, are part of their nature, and the all- 
sufficient Means appointed through which they may 
arrive at Perfection and Happiness. Every Soul is, 
therefore, a revelation in itself, to itself, for itself; but 
as, in its very nature Knowledge is Love, and its exer¬ 
cise the very highest phase of conceivable happiness, 
so we are admonished by our Reason and our Soul- 
instincts to live for others as well as for ourselves: 
thus, our social duties are clearly pointed out to us; 
and thus also, the right direction of all our labours, 
and of all our Laws, are indicated beyond the pos¬ 
sibility of mistake. Man has a double nature; that 
is the only difficulty : he is an animal, in which an 
Angel is enshrined. He might live for either. Could 
we show the entire world this one Pact, Civilis, the 
difficulty would vanish: mankind would make their 
selection; and their selection would necessarily be 
right. 

Civtlis. Prove to me this last inference of yours, 
my dear Randolph; show me (all irrational impedi¬ 
ments thereto apart) that a man must act in obedience 
to his convictions , and I am thenceforth your disciple 
in Philosophy, and a convert to your Religion, 

Randolph. Why a Convert, Civilis? 

Civilis. Simply, because I shall not have a doubt 
remaining of its Truth : for if this Fact be true, the 
rest are true; and every other system is necessarily 
false. 

Randolph. But will this conviction necessarily 
make a convert of you, Civilis ? 

L 


140 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


Civilis. I see the tendency of your question, 
Randolph. It will. And this is an answer to my 
scepticism. 

Randolph. Credulity, Civilis, is a far less com¬ 
mendable quality than Doubt. He who is a Sceptic 
through lack of evidence, renders as high an homage 
to the majesty of Truth by his unbelief, as he does to 
whom the evidence brings full conviction. 

Civilis. How true is this! And yet it is the 
fashion to decry Scepticism as a scandal to humanity. 
But my eyes are opened; and I begin to think with 
David that “ all men are liars.” Civilization is a lie. 
Society is a lie. No man dares to be honest even to 
himself. If the Knowledge with which our libraries 
are stored be as spurious as ourselves, what an Augean 
stable has to be cleansed of its abominations before 
Truth shall find a fit abiding-place amongst us! 

Randolph. The task is, indeed, a Herculean one: 
but Truth is omnipotent. We have only to let in 
Light on the plants that thrive in darkness, and they 
wither. To punish a man for his opinions is only to 
confirm him in them. Give him a new Truth which 
shall alter his convictions, and he is a new man. 
You may dragoon men into submission, but not into 
belief. You may preach “ Love one another” through 
another cycle of eighteen centuries, but you will 
accomplish nothing, except the change of an honest 
denial of your doctrine into hypocrisy and cant, until 
you can teach Men Why, and How. Not doctrines 
do we propagate,' but a Principle. Test everything 


Chap. I.] 


THE ALPHA. 


147 


by that , and all will be accomplished. The one 
Truth which Christ did not teach us, is sup¬ 
plied by our Philosophy. His followers felt this 
truth, but failed in establishing it by fastening it on 
a lie. We have proved, Civilis, what Man is, and 

THE NON-NECESSITY, NOT TO SAY THE IMPOSSIBILITY, 

of a physical resurrection. We know what 
Human Nature is, as God made it. We shall find 
that the sentimentality which passes current in the 
world for Knowledge, is, for the most part, as false 
as that Palse human nature which Error and Injustice 
have generated amongst us, and which the very acme 
of the world’s wisdom only teaches us to deplore. 
The Chinese have a method of dwarfing forest-trees 
to dimensions suited to a flower-pot. But this is not 
God’s work. Neither is that Eungus nature which 
Polly has engrafted on humanity,— Human Nature, 
as God made it,-grand, simple, and con¬ 

sistent : but a mean, complicated tissue of absurdi¬ 
ties and contradictions, on which the Philosophers, 
whose work it is, have falsely bestowed this sacred 
appellation. Books are, for the most part, filled with 
the nutriment on which this fungus feeds. Men 
dwarf men, as the Chinese dwarf their cedars,—by 
introducing poison into the sap ; and then tell us 
that the diminutive falsehood is Human Nature ! 
The aggregate of these artificial diminutives consti¬ 
tutes that impersonal abstraction we call Society. 
This Hydra dooms Man to ignorance, shrivels him 
into a brute: then tells us that Men are brutes by 
l 2 


148 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


nature. It starves him, and he steals:—and, of 
course, Men are thieves by nature. It feeds him 
with falsehood in his pap:—all men are naturally 
liars. It compels him to be selfish, and then im¬ 
pudently puts down his selfishness to the account of 
human nature. It tasks and tortures him; it breaks 
down his imprisoned spirit, and bows his very soul, 
by the vilest servitude and oppression, into the dust; 
and then attempts to fasten his servility on his 
nature! Having thus humbled its victim, it does 
with him whatever else it pleases. It has taught 
him that all the miseries he suffers are inevitable; 
that his nature is grovelling, wicked, and detestable; 
that God is a God of vengeance and will punish him 
with unspeakable torments everlastingly; and then 
bids him go and worship that God! Perhaps his 
real nature revolts at such a worship. Perhaps he 
believes what Society has told him—of the meanness 
of his nature, and the misery of his lot. Then he 
girds up his loins for endurance, and says within 
himself, “ I must toil and suffer: why should I wor¬ 
ship ? whom should I worship P I am the creature of 
necessity: I am the child of Chance. There is no 
God!” Society now tempts him with its tinsel 
splendours: he grows ambitious: ergo, human nature 
is ambitious. It humbles its impersonal self before 
the thing it has created; flatters it, lauds it, till it 
grows proud; and then charges this Pride itself has 
caused and fostered—to the account of human nature! 
Thus is nobility created. I see you are weary, 


CuAP. I.] 


THE ALPHA. 


149 


Civilis : but stop whilst I tell you how Society manu¬ 
factures its Philosophers. It takes one of the afore¬ 
said atomies of its own making; lures him with 
luxuries, and he becomes a sensualist. It tells him 
that Pleasure is Happiness : and there is no meanness 
to which he will not stoop, no danger he will not 
dare, to grasp it: He does grasp it, and finds it an 
illusion, a cheat: he falls to moralizing; writes 
blasphemies about Nature and the Human species; 
dies; and his falsehoods become the food of future 

generations!-At our next meeting, Civilis, we 

will call this imperious, self-willed delinquent, Society, 
to a more strict account, and examine the wares it 
vends, even to its favourites, and palms on us for 
Knowledge. Civilis promised to come the next 
evening, and the Reader, if not tired of our Philo¬ 
sophy, is invited to make one of the party. 



150 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


CHAPTER II. 

RANDOLPH. Cl VI LIS. 

Civilis. I have already experienced the correctness 
of one of your axioms, Randolph. “ Give a man a 
new Truth which shall alter his old convictions, and 
he is a new man.” I have been born anew, and 
my new birth is “ of the Spirit.” Since yesterday I 
seem to have lived an age: to have grown old; to 
have outlived, not only my opinions, but my occupa¬ 
tions, my acquaintances, nay, even my very home; 
for not a nook within it seems to own me for its 
master. Not a Book, nor a Picture—and you know 
I have been a little tainted with the Pine-art mania— 
has solicited me to bestow a single kindly thought 
upon it. I see everything through a new medium. 
It is astonishing how much more clearly I see into 
things, or, as the phrase is, “ through them,” than I 
did formerly. My mind has been in a whirl of ex¬ 
citement. I cannot call the feelings which have 
possessed me Happiness: and yet I have never 
experienced a happiness for which I would willingly 
exchange them. Although naturally taciturn, I have 
done nothing but talk all day; and I fear at times, 
not very coherently: for poor old Cognovit, my 
clerk, gave many uneasy indications, whilst I was at 


Chap. II.] 


THE ALPHA. 


151 


chambers this morning, that he thought me mad. I 
have since been endeavouring to connect in my mind 
the several parts of your—shall I call it Philosophy 
or Religion, Randolph ?—into one systemized whole; 
but have not been able to concentrate my thoughts 
sufficiently to do so. In this endeavour a thought 
or two occurred to me which seem to require some 
elucidation. 

Randolph. I am glad, Civilis, you have been 
bestowing so much thought on the subject as to have 
started a difficulty, Your imagination is, however, 
a little heated : let us adjourn to the lawn, and seat 
ourselves beneath the sycamore. The evening is 
sultry, and its refreshing shade looks especially in¬ 
viting. To a tyro, Civilis, the unadorned nakedness 
of our Philosophy is a little startling. 

Civilis. It is: but in any guise how beautiful is 
Truth! One view of the subject has afforded me 
especial consolation. To know that our very errors, 
and the discomfort they occasion us, are necessary to 
our after-life felicity, is in every way a happiness; 
but in none so much as to feel that our sorrows are 
ordained by a beneficent, not by an angry God, and 
that men have only to be wise in order to avoid them. 
The fact is clear enough when once suggested; for, 
certainly, could the soul know all things intuitively 
and at once, without the step by step progress which 
it makes from its first conjunction with the body, and 
without the infelicity which attends its devious 
wanderings from the onward pathway to perfection, 


152 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II 


we should be happy without knowing it, and Felicity 
would be impossible. How long might we have 
waited for Doctors in Divinity to tell us this ! 

Randolph. Ay, Civilis, they are but blind teachers, 
with all their sanctified pretensions. The beneficent 
scheme of Providence which Philosophy reveals to us 
seems not to have been so much as dreamed of by 
prosing Moralists, whether Lay or Clerical. Yet it 
is certain that to any other being than the Deity, 
felicity is impossible except through infelicity. And 
how simple the means compared with the magnificence 
of the end ! for we perceive that the felicity of the 
Creature is secured, and even that of the Creator en¬ 
hanced, by a single act:—that of the Creature by 
the only means possible for its bestowal; and that 
of the Creator by the eternally-increasing greatness 
of the gift. The only idea these teachers seem to 
have of Providence amounts to this:—that God is 
ever busied watching over, and superintending his 
universal work, and constantly changing his purposes, 
and interfering with the operations of his Laws: 
Raws, Civilis, which were made by a Being of in¬ 
finite Intelligence, foresight, and perfection, and 
which were promulgated in the beginning for all 
eternity :—I mean, of course, if it be the purpose of 
the Deity that they shall continue for ever. But it 
may be—and in this case, Civilis, mark the endless¬ 
ness of the fruition in store for man!—it may be, 
that after the period when the countless myriads of 
created Minds, (created to know this universe of 


Chap. II.] 


THE ALPHA. 


153 


wonders,) shall have acquired the knowledge of the 
whole; and that thus the Universe shall exist in 
myriads of Minds by means of myriads of imperish¬ 
able Ideas op this Universe, just as, prior to its 
actual existence, it existed in the Mind of the Deity 
himself;—-then, it may be, that the fiat shall go 
forth that all which is shall be no longer; and 
that another Universe more wonderful still shall take 
its place to supply fresh Knowledge and higher 
Happiness to all the created Sharers of his infinite 
beatitude: and thus may change follow change, and 
fruition succeed to fruition, through all eternity. 

Civilis. This is, indeed, a glorious prospect, 
Randolph, and forces one to think that we might 
tire of Hallelujahs,—the highest felicity to which 
even our Bishops have ventured to give a name ! 
The thought I just now adverted to, and which 
has somewhat perplexed me, is this. If a man can 
neither believe nor disbelieve at will , but only as 
he is convinced, or not convinced by evidence 
which coincides with own knowledge of the nature 
of things, it follows that his belief, or disbelief, is 
a matter of necessity, and not of mere caprice or 
choice. Again : if a man, exempt from all external 
influences, must act conformably with his convictions, 
and, under any circumstances, must bend to controlling 
influences , it follows also, that his actions, as well as 
his convictions, are the result of an inevitable 
necessity ; where then is his Free Will ? and in 
what does your system differ from the doctrine of 


154 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


the Fatalists, and the less loveable one of the Predes- 
tinarians ? for, as his thoughts and actions, together 
with the circumstances which determine them, are 
necessarily foreknown to the Deity, is not his course 
marked out for him from the beginning, and his 
after-fate predestined ? 

Randolph. Your question is a very comprehensive 
one. That all the circumstances of a man’s life are 
foreknown to the Deity is admitted. But, Civilis, 
to foreknow a thing is not necessarily to predeter¬ 
mine it. When God willed the existence of the 
material universe; every portion thereof was sub¬ 
jected to certain Laws which the inert mass is 
compelled to obey from an imperious necessity. In 
this case, not only was its course foreknown, but it 
was pre-ordained or predestinated. The case is, 
however, altogether different with respect to Man. 
The Human Soul is an Intelligent Principle; and in 
the same sense that God has Free Will, Man has Free 
Will; as well as in another, and truer, sense, which 
I will mention presently. The Deity has not a Free 
Will to do wrong, but only to do right. The Deity 
can neither think evil, nor do an evil act; because 
having Infinite Knowledge He cannot have an erro¬ 
neous conviction. To the extent of a Man’s know¬ 
ledge he is, mentally, in the same condition. Free 
Will, in this sense, is only another name for Intelli¬ 
gence. The inert mass of the material universe, 
having no Intelligence, has no Will; therefore, to 
promulgate Laws for the regulation of its movements, 


Chap. II.] 


THE ALPHA. 


155 


was to pre-ordain those movements. But, mark me ! 
the Necessity which even inert Matter obeys, is a 
Foreseeing, All-knowing, Intelligence; not the Neces¬ 
sity of the Fatalists, which is unintelligent and blind. 
The Necessity to which Man is subject is twofold; 
First, the Necessity we are considering, which in¬ 
fluences his rational acts; and, secondly, that which 
circumscribes his animal nature, and determines his 
birth, his growth, his perfection, the reproduction of 
his species, and his decay. But his Mind is neces¬ 
sarily Free, that by its exercise it might make 
progress towards the perfection of which it is capable. 
In consequence of the primitive Ignorance which is 
essential to this perfection, Free Will pertains to Man 
in a sense to which it does not pertain to his Creator. 
Man is an Animal as well as an Embryo Intelligence. 
He has Animal Instincts which are necessary to 
his animal development. The needful gratification 
of every sense (the seats of these Instincts, as well 
as the inlets to his knowledge) is pleasure-giving : it 
is, indeed, the Pleasure which induces their exercise. 

-He has also Soul-instincts, —the Desire for 

Knowledge, Presentiment of Truth, and a sym¬ 
pathy with spiritual things. These Instincts are 
also pleasure-giving. It is the Pleasure (perhaps I 
ought to say — the Happiness,) which invites the 
exercise of these Instincts also. Man’s Free Will 

CONSISTS IN HIS EREEDOM OF CHOICE BETWEEN THE 
GRATIFICATION OF THESE TWO SETS OF INSTINCTS. 

From the erroneous choice he has hitherto made has 



156 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


arisen nearly all the Evils he has so needlessly 
suffered. This I will prove to you in its proper 
place. Ignorance, therefore, not Intelligence, is the 
parent of Eree Will. As our Knowledge increases 
our Free Will is circumscribed, and this, for the 
beneficent purpose of our progress towards perfec¬ 
tion and happiness. In our exercise of Eree Will we 
may restrain our animal Instincts within rational 
limits, or yield ourselves entirely to their influence. 

-We may follow the benign direction of the 

Soul-instincts, or, neglecting their solicitations, we 
may suffer them to perish within us. We might 
use them to the noblest end, or misdirect them to 
the mere purposes of sensuality. As long as these 
Instincts are only Instincts they may give a bias 
to the Mind, but have no absolute power to 
direct it. But, convert a Soul-instinct into a con¬ 
viction ; and nothing but the influence exerted over 
the individual who has attained the conviction, by 
the mass of minds to whom the conviction has not 
yet come, can prevent the resultant act from being 
in strict conformity with the conviction, and termi¬ 
nating in good. Man is not, therefore, a mere 
material machine, the minutest movements of which 
are predetermined as well as foreknown; but an 
Intelligent creature, having free liberty of choice 
between the nature and gratifications peculiar to the 
brute, and the nature and gratifications of his angel- 
intellect. As he inclines to the former he is sub¬ 
jected to the Laws to which mere brutes are subject; 



Chap. II.] 


THE ALPHA. 


157 


and as he inclines to the latter, he is subjected to the 
Law, which (operating as an imperious, and at the 
same time, a beneficent necessity,) compels him to 
believe that only which is believable, to reject that 
which is unbelievable, and to act in obedience to 
his convictions. It is on this very law, Civilis, that 
we must rest our hopes of the extinction of Evil, and 
the regeneration of the human race. Have I, so far, 
made myself understood ? Do you see that this 
necessity to which the Human Soul is subject, is not 
the chimerical necessity of the Fatalists, but the 
ordination of an All-intellectual God who purposes 
thereby the Happiness of the Human Race ? 

Civilis. I think I clearly perceive your meaning, 
my dear Randolph. Certainly, this necessity is not 
the necessity of the Fatalists with which I was con¬ 
founding it; but is, as you have described it, a 
BENEFICENT NECESSITY, CAPABLE ONLY OF GOOD. 

You have also reconciled to my entire satisfaction, 
what appeared to me to be an anomaly, namely, the 
existence of this Necessity with the existence of Free 
Will. If there be any portion of your explanation I 
do not fully comprehend, it is the distinction (looking 
to their results ), between Foreknowledge and Predesti¬ 
nation. I perceive that to Foreknow, is not neces¬ 
sarily to Predestinate. But, my dear Randolph, 
seeing that there are millions of human beings whom 
erroneous influences have kept ignorant, and whom, 
the circumstances they were unable to control or 
surmount have degraded into the condition of brutes, 


158 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


I am led to perceive also, that, in consequence of 
these influences, these millions may never attain to 
that state of Perfection and Happiness of which their 
nature is capable; I would, therefore, ask, how do 
you reconcile God’s Foreknowledge and Permis¬ 
sion of these adverse circumstances, first, with his 
ability to do all he purposes to do, and next, with his 
Justice ? 

Randolph. Whether we can reconcile these seem¬ 
ing anomalies with God’s Justice or not, it is certain 
that whatever Infinite Intelligence wills to do cannot 
be the work either of incapacity or injustice. We 
have already seen that some things are not possible 
even with God. Incapacity and Injustice are of the 
number. To give the human race a sense of Happi¬ 
ness without acquainting them with sorrow, is another 
of these impossibilities. There is, therefore, a Neces¬ 
sity for the condition in which Humanity finds itself; 
—I mean, for its primitive ignorance, for its dual 
nature, and for those Instincts I have adverted to 
which tend to the development of both natures. 
Were it not for the existence of the Instincts Man 
could not have Free Will: and without the Free Will 
he could have no choice: he must be governed by a 
special Providence, not by general Laws: his pro¬ 
gress in Knowledge would then be errorless, and he 
would have no more sense of his happiness than has 
a statue of its form, or the rose of its fragrance. 
There would be no need of the endless variety we 
now find in the material universe. As aids to our 


Chap. II.] 


THE ALPHA. 


159 


senses, the forms, colours, and characteristics of things 
would be unnecessary; for we should not need the 
senses, nor, of course, have any. In short, Civilis, 
the Deity must have made, or might as well have 
made, his Intellectual creatures complete Intelligences 
at once;—witnesses of his Power, but not sharers in 
his beatitude. So that, taking the Happiness of his 
creatures as the object of such a creation, the latter 
would have been a blunder: the means would have 
been inadequate to the end. Power would have 
been exemplified, but not Beneficence. Pree Will is, 
therefore, a Necessity. Now, if a created soul cannot 
attain Perfection and Happiness without the Free Will, 
the two Natures, the Instincts, the Sorrow, and the 
Ignorance, it is clear that the General Laws by which 
the Special Purpose of human existence is on the 
whole secured, must be subject to the accidents caused 
by the errors to which Free Will is liable. The failure 
of millions of Souls from the circumstances you have 
alluded to, is an accident; foreknown I admit, and 
permitted, but inevitable. But that these accidents 
can result in injustice, I totally deny. All the Laws 
of the Deity are general, not special. Observe a re¬ 
sult of one of them in the Vegetable Kingdom. You 
know the balloon-like apparatus appended to the seeds 
of the thistle. The winds are not put in motion for 
the purpose of scattering these seeds and securing the 
reproduction of this particular vegetable. But you 
have seen them borne about on the wings of the 
evening breezes, and know that many of them ulti- 


160 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


mately find a resting-place where they vegetate and 
become thistles. Millions of these seeds, from a 
thousand accidents, fail. Yet there is no lack of 
thistles. But what becomes of those which fail? 
In some shape or other they become a part of the un¬ 
organized matter from which they first derived their 
being. Neither, in the Spiritual Heaven, will there 
be any lack of Intelligences. But what becomes of 
those Souls whom—not accident altogether, but their 
own blind folly—shall have wrecked ? They will be 
again amalgamated with the Soul of the Universe from 
which they first derived their being. And where is 
the injustice? They chose the brute’s gratifications, 
and find the brute’s destiny. Creatures of sense, they 
enjoy the pleasures of sense, and when these pleasures 
pall, they die. They did not know that they were Anyels 
in nature , and capable of an Angel’s immortality and 
happiness—or they must have fitted themselves for an 
Angel’s destiny : and as they did not know that which 
each of them, in spite of external influences, might 
have known, namely, what they were, and why they 
were created—knowledge which would have ensured 
the purposed end against all obstructions—it is ob¬ 
vious that, to them, the loss of individual existence 
hereafter can be no injustice. 

Civilis. I am convinced, Randolph; perfectly con¬ 
vinced. I could not now re-embody or re-word your 
argument. I am too much excited to do so: but I 
am sure it is logical and conclusive. I followed it 


Chap II.] 


THE ALPHA. 


161 


carefully, anxiously, fearfully—I am satisfied that it is 

true.—Pardon my emotion, Randolph,- 

Randolph. I perceive you are unusually moved, 
Civilis; and will defer until our next meeting, the 
inquiry on which we were to have entered this even¬ 
ing. Let us join Ellen : and over our coffee I will 
relate to you a dream—I have always been a dreamer, 
Civilis,—that I dreamed some months ago ; which, 
though fantastic in its character, will not be an un¬ 
suitable preface to the practical portion of the subject 

we have yet to discuss. 

* * * * # * 

Civilis. There is something very inexplicable in 
dreams. They seem to be, for the most part, but dis¬ 
jointed reminiscences of our past experience; yet 
occasionally they appear to be the dim foreshado wrings 
of the future. I once dreamed that I saw my mother, 
who had been standing beside me, ascend to Heaven, 
when she became one amongst a crowd of Angels 
around the throne of God. Eorms and colours there 
were none. The throng was innumerable. It was 
something of the nature of expression by which each 
was distinguishable from the others, and my mother 
from them all; something pelt but not seen. 
Never shall I forget the—I know not what to call it— 
not the look, which my mother cast towards me as 
unwonderingly, I gazed on the glory she had become. 
It seemed to say “ Come tooand instantly I floated 
upwards, light as ether, towards her in the Heavens. 

M 



162 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


Then thought I an earthly, unholy thought and fell. 

I essayed to rise again, but could not. A cloud of 
darkness overspread the radiance. I awoke in agony. 

I was then a child ; but this dream has held a mys¬ 
terious influence over me ever since. I have ever 
vainly wished to dream this dream again. But there 
is one dream, which, with but little variation, I dream 
frequently. It is a sort of confession : give me leave 
to tell it you. It commences by the most delightful 
of sensations I ever experienced—that of floating 
through space; not flying, but, by the mere power of 
volition, careering over the surface of the earth and 
sea; descending whithersoever I desire to descend, 
and visiting whom and what I please. An accident in 
my infancy, Miss Randolph, maimed me, and rendered 
me the unprepossessing object you see me now. My 
soul has ever gazed worshippingly on Beauty: but 
Beauty has never beamed back a sympathetic look on 
me. In my dreams—in the spiritual world—there is 
ever one Fair Form of which I have no waking 
memory, but the same always. 

Her I invariably visit in these aerial dream-career- 
ings. Her I worship, conscious the while, that the 
soul of this ideal Fair One sympathises wholly with 
mine own. This dream, though frequent, is occasional. 
I am then always another self, having no memory of 
my waking self—no consciousness of my deformity, 
it now occurs to me, Randolph, that I may be one of 
those wrecked souls of a former generation, not lost, 
but re-embodied; and that my former ego and 


Chap. II.] 


THE ALPHA. 


163 


my present self, are two embryo existences, which, 
per se, await but a link in the chain of memory to 
unite them into one. One Ego with two memories 
pertaining to two states of being! May not this be 
so ? Often when a new truth comes to me, I seem, 
dimly and indistinctly to have seen that truth be¬ 
fore. I have met with many who have experienced 
the same momentary feeling, amounting almost to 
a conviction. Is it not so, Randolph? or am I 
dreaming now ? 

Randolph. The dream I am about to relate to 
you, Civilis, will almost confirm you in your in¬ 
genious fancy. That which is philosophically curious 
in it is, that from the beginning to the end I was 
the astonished listener to a long story which could 
have been no other than the coinage of my own 
brain. This story, but for its incompleteness, might 
be designated the Autobiography of a Pin, but as I 
awoke before the whole history had been related, I 
will entitle it 

THE REMINISCENCES OF A PIN. 

One evening during the early part of last summer, 
after having dined sparingly and alone,—Ellen was 
was not with me then, and my house was a hermitage 
—I had my coffee brought to me in the library. 
Although summer, it was cold, and a fire threw 
a warm glow of cheerfulness over the apartment. 
Coffee was brought in. My reading-lamp was 
m 2 


164 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part IT. 


placed, on the table. The remaining daylight was 
shut out. I seated myself in this easy-chair. My 
only care—the only real sorrow which at such mo¬ 
ments impresses itself upon me—was the thought 
that the absence of such comforts amongst millions 
of my fellow-creatures converted these comforts into 
luxuries which it was almost criminal to enjoy, and 
especially, to enjoy alone. In this melancholy, and 
half-thankless mood, I was about to help myself to a 
cup of this pleasant beverage, when I observed a 
Pin shining at the bottom of my coffee-cup. T 
removed it to the tray before me that I might not 
forget kindly to admonish my maid for her care¬ 
lessness. I declined my coffee; for I have an 
instinctive aversion to pins. Musing on this trifling 
circumstance, I thought to myself, “ Could a Pin 
relate its history we should sometimes listen to 
very curious recitals.” Absorbed by this idea I 
fell asleep; when gradually the Pin raised itself 
until it rested on its point, and began to perform a 
sort of pirouette before me. During this performance 
my fancy metamorphosed it into the form and dimen¬ 
sions of a young girl, except that the head (with 
the hair twisted round it after the manner of a 
turban) and the lower extremity (which terminated 
in a point), still retained the characteristics of a Pin. 
Having finished its gyrations, which appeared to have 
been performed much to its own satisfaction, me- 
thought it began to relate its history by echoing my 
own \whimsical surmise.—“ Yes, Mr. Randolph, a 


Chap. II.] 


THE ALPHA. 


165 


Pin could relate very curious tales if it chose to do 
so. The pirouette you have been admiring I first 
performed above the end of the stem of a tobacco- 
pipe. Thrust through the centre of a green pea, I 
have danced in the air with a grace and buoyancy 
that a Grisi or a Taglioni might have envied,—a 
mischievous urchin such as you were half a century 
ago, Mr. Randolph, with cheeks swollen like a 
trumpeter’s, blowing the pipe the while by way of 
accompaniment, and wondering, as well he might, at 
my dexterity. I was then but a learner. Practice 
makes perfect; and I can now, as you perceive, do 
without the pea, as boys in time learn to swim 
without the corks. And let me ask you, Mr. Gravity, 
whether there is not as much to admire in my 
dancing, as much to interest and delight the proud 
intellect of the elite of a nation, as in that of any 
of the lewdly-graceful performances of the most 
favoured pets of the Opera? I have seen these 
orgies, sir; for, although I have had my ups and 
downs, I have been in good society in my time. Yes, 
I have peeped from beneath a diamond, sir, on 
these Opera-shows, and have almost unwound the con¬ 
volutions of my head in amazement,—not at their 
agility, Mr. Randolph, for I have often beat them 
out and out on my tobacco-pipe—but to think that 
men and women could be found ready to turn them¬ 
selves into machines, and make grimaces, and play 
antics, for the amusement of other men and women 
not one whit wiser or nobler than themselves^ But 


166 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


I will give you my history: it is a strange one I 
promise you : So listen. 

I was not born, nor, correctly speaking, created ; 
but proceeding from a previously-prepared wire—the 
parent of many thousands of my species,—was cut 
by the shears of the pin-fabricating Fates into an 
individual existence, which for a brief space I en¬ 
dured with but little consciousness of the fact, 
having been tumbled into a heap of similar embryos 
waiting certain very important additions, namely, my 
head, my uncorrosive vesture, and my polish. I 
had already passed through the grinding process of 
my lower extremity (which might be called my rudi- 
mental education), under the hands of a master 
famous for his points. It chanced that I had an 
excellent head, and well put on, and I naturally be¬ 
came a very sharp pin. I cannot too much expatiate 
on the inestimable advantage of a head,—an ad¬ 
vantage which I take some pride in remembering 
does not fall to the lot of all pins. With a good 
head, a pin of the right material, that is, of a good 
temper, and not too soft—might be made to go 
through almost anything. I have gone through a 
great deal in my time. Yes, sir, with a good head, 
a strong constitution, and superior powers of pene¬ 
tration, I know of no woollen nor even hempen 
difficulty which it might not readily overcome; that 
is, barring accidents, such as falling into a cess¬ 
pool, or getting into the fumbling fingers of a 
man. 


Chae. II.] 


THE ALPHA. 


167 


“ A slop-pail I always looked upon with abhorrence; 
and never shall I forget the terror I experienced early 
in life, trembling as I did over this very utensil for 
several seconds, dangling from the front of Betty 
Bedquilt’s morning gown. There I was, head down¬ 
wards, and the gravity of my head, for once, nearly 
ruined me. But, luckily, Betty’s hollow tooth gave a 
twinge at the very moment I had given myself over 
as lost, and I was saved from the exterminating pol¬ 
lution of the cesspool by being made the instrument 
of alleviation to Betty’s surcharged tooth;—a filthy 
business for a pin of my pretensions; but I forgave 
the degradation, as it saved me from a worse: besides 
I felt that I had performed an office of real charity: 
and to reflect on the good we do is no slight happi¬ 
ness in this world. 

“ Well, as I was saying, and with good reason,—a 
slop-pail is my aversion; and the thing most de¬ 
testable next to this is to fall into the hands of a 
masculine biped who happens of a morning to be 
minus a button to his shirt. These creatures have 
digits with only sensitiveness enough to manage a 
button, or to tie hard knots with a yard or two of 
twopenny tape: but, for a Pin! the Pates save us 
delicate existences from their paws. We are made 
for the fair sex. Their modest charms are intrusted 
to our keeping. We are the guardians of their deli¬ 
cacy and honour. And many a time have I balked 
the unseemly advances of libertinism by a blood-letting 
scratch or a venomous puncture, when unguarded 


168 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


thoughtlessness and opportunity have concurred to 
expose some charm, intrusted to my especial keeping, 
to danger and assault. Oh, these men! I almost 
loathe the sight of them. I was once in terrible danger 
of being bent double by one of these uncouth wretches: 
but I was too sharp for him; for, penetrating into 
his aivkwardness, I penetrated at the same instant 
into the quick under his thumb-nail. By this exploit 
I escaped his clutches; for, with a very wicked wish, 
away he flung me, and I fell into a seam in the carpet, 
and thence wriggled through into a chink in the 
chamber floor. 

“ Here I lay inactive and neglected during several 
weeks. How I wished I could convert that varlet 
into a living pincushion! I was inexperienced then, 
and naturally fell into the lax way of thinking so 
current amongst mankind. I really thought there 
was a difference, nay, an immeasurable difference, be¬ 
tween a milkmaid and a marchioness: so I looked 
with contempt on the one, and entertained a sort of 
servile reverence for the other. All my anxiety was 
to raise myself in the world, at least as high as the 
waist of a real Baroness; and here I lay exuding 
verdigris out of sheer vexation for near a month. 
Oh, these men ! I did nothing but invent schemes 
of revenge on the whole fraternity whenever I should 
effect my liberation. 

“ One mischief, however, my internal fumings did 
myself. I began gradually to lose my polish, and 
was thus parting with my best chance of redemption ; 


Chap. II.] 


THE ALPHA. 


169 


for glitter is a great attraction, and external appear¬ 
ance no slight recommendation in the eyes of the 
world even to a Pin. I, however, still possessed my 
powers of penetration, which was no slight point in 
my favour; and was, moreover, still as straight as 
any young lady after her new corset has been properly 
laced. But let me drop similes, lest my fancy should 
hurry me into imprudences. I have seen much 
which is not to be mentioned, and have lived long 
enough in what is called good society not to have 
learned discretion. Indeed, the only difference I 
could ever perceive between the fashionable portion 
of society and the vulgar consists in a discreet 
government of the tongue. The former utters its 
best thoughts and suppresses its worst: the latter 
gives an honest utterance to all. So now, having 
resolved on circumspection, let me proceed with my 
story. 

“ Nearly a month after my accident, I had the good 
fortune to be rescued from my obscurity by the 
chambermaid, who, having exhausted her mistress’s 
pincushion, one day when the carpet was up, had 
recourse to the crevices of the floor to supply her 
necessities. No sooner did she espy me than she 
drew me forth, and, according to her custom, placed 
me in her mouth, covered as I was with the excretion 
already mentioned. 

“ Having been thus unwittingly restored to my 
pristine brightness by the thoughtless Susan, I was 
transferred to her habit-shirt. It chanced that Susan s 


170 


THE ALPHA. 


[Tart II. 


lip had that morning received a slight incision from 
an indiscreet use of a knife whilst feeding, and the 
poisonous matter that had dulled my brilliancy was 
duly transferred to the wound. A poisoned lip was 
the consequence. The wound was cured after some 
weeks of disfigurement and pain: but as Susan was 
ignorant of the cause of her mishap—oh, how much 
evil is caused by ignorance, Mr. Randolph !—she 
continues to deposit stray pins in her pretty mouth 
as usual, to the jeopardy of her own as well as their 
existence. 

“ I was begged of Susan by the lady’s maid; 
and the very same day I was employed in a way 
which I thought a little derogatory, for my duty was 
to hold together some whity-brown paper placed 
around a bonnet which had to be returned to the 
milliner for alterations. Pins, however, should not 
be particular, nor judge too hastily. Every accident 
is not a misfortune, though at first sight it might 
look like one. It is impossible to foresee what good 
fortune disagreeable circumstances might be leading 
us to. We neither know what we escape nor what 
we are approaching. This was my case. And as for 
the degradation ;—I was cured of the prejudice, as 
far as regards myself, by observing to what uses one 
set of human beings converts the rest of the species. 
It was here I began to grow philosophical. Pins, 
thought I, do not work for pins. The animals do 
not labour for each other, save only (and this out of 
love) for their little ones; but each creature labours 


Chap. II.] 


THE ALPHA. 


171 


for itself alone : whilst men and women, I perceived, 
not only enslave the animals beneath them, but 
enslave each other. I never could comprehend the 
meaning of this, nor see the necessity for so much 
work. I was first led into these reflections by the 
following circumstance. A delicate young creature 
named Jenny Blanchard, a worker in this establish¬ 
ment, took me one Sunday evening, in the bow of 
her bonnet, to church. It was the first time I had 
ever been there. It was a novelty, and I paid great 
attention to all I heard. I perceived that people 
came to church to be instructed by some one far 
greater than themselves, as to their duties. I well 
remember these words being read from a great 
book.— 

‘ Take heed, and beware of covetousness : for a 
man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the 
things which he possessetli. 

‘ Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor 
reap ; which neither have storehouse nor barn ; and 
God feedeth them: How much more are ye better 
than the fowls ? 

‘ And which of you taking thought, can add to his 
stature one cubit ? 

‘ If ye then be not able to do that thing which is 
least, why take ye thought for the rest ? 

‘ Consider the lilies how they grow : they toil 
not: they spin not: and yet I say unto you that 
Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of 
these. 


172 


THE ALPHA. 


[Fart II. 


* If then God clothe the grass which is to-day in 
the field, and to-morrow is cast into the oven: how 
much more will he clothe you, O, ye of little faith ? 

‘ And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye 
shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. 

‘ For all these things do the nations of the world 
seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have 
need of these things. 

* But rather seek ye the kingdom of God, and all 
these things shall be added unto you. 

‘ Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good 
pleasure to give you the kingdom. 

‘ Sell that ye have, and give alms : provide your¬ 
selves bags which wax not old : a treasure in the 
heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, 
nor moth corrupteth. 

* For where your treasure is, there will your heart 
be also.’ 

“ Just as I was rejoicing within myself that all 
the overworked maidens, whose toils I had been 
witnessing for more than a week, will work no more , 
but live in health, and be arrayed in beauty as the 
lilies are, the preacher—a man you may be sure, Mr. 
Randolph,—explained that all these beautiful words 
meant the very reverse of what they seemed to mean: 
that the poor should be always with us; and that 
the poor must work in this world for fear of being 
damned in the next. Poor Jenny Blanchard fainted, 
and was carried back to the place whence she had 


Chap. II.] 


THE ALPHA. 


173 


come,—I cannot call it her home—and in three days, 
sir, she was dead ! 

“ I saw much in this * Maison des Modes’ of too 
painful a nature to remember willingly, but which is 
too deeply engraven on my memory to forget. I 
became the casual property of Miss Lydia Brierley : 
and thousands of times have I been transferred from 
her palpitating bosom to her work, and from her 
work back again to her bosom. Bor many weeks 
together, from six o’clock in the morning till the 
noon of night, have her delicate fingers employed me 
to aid her in her almost ceaseless avocations. Poor 
young lady ! so gentle ! so spotless-minded ! so truly 
good ! Why was she doomed to everlasting work, 
whilst the ladies in the house I had come from were 
so utterly exempt therefrom as to be almost dying of 
idleness and ill-nature ? Amongst us Pins there is 
a difference. A great, unwieldy corking-pin is made 
purposely for coarse employments, in which none but a 
biped of the masculine gender would ever think of 
employing a delicate ‘ Medium’ like myself. But 
why this difference amongst the Pair Angels of the 
Earth? And what are you breeched and bearded 
‘ lords of the creation’ about that you permit it ? I 
am pretty sharp; have a tolerable share of natural 
penetration, but I never could understand this. Why 
loll you there, sir, in luxurious ease—I will, how¬ 
ever, eschew heroics as I am just now in the melting 
mood ; and I thank my stars that I am made of a 


174 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


melting material: — so let me proceed with my 
story. 

“ The last time I was employed by Lydia Brierley 
was on her death-bed. Poor child ! She had become 
the victim of consumption. Work, work, work; to¬ 
gether with a sensitive, loving, gentle heart, had 
utterly consumed her.* The last office in which she 
employed me was to secure a five-pound note in her 
last letter to her mother, who had no means of escaping 
the workhouse but by poor, gentle Lydia’s life-con¬ 
suming toil. I remember she placed me over her 
name; and as she feebly pressed me through the 
papers, a tear fell upon me ! I can never forget that 
tear !—one of the last poor Lydia shed; for she was in 
heaven before I quitted her emaciated hand! How 
often have I said to myself, ‘ Oh, that poor Lydia 
Brierley had been a Pin !’ At that moment I would 
willingly have held her grave-clothes about her, and 
have gone with her to oblivious corruption in the quiet 
ground ! but it chanced otherwise. 

“ What I heard and witnessed in this millinery 
establishment, it would almost dissolve me to relate. 
Most of these millinery maidens died in their ‘ teens.’ 
Some, however, I saw there who had passed the. com¬ 
mon meridian of life, proof, apparently, against in¬ 
cessant toil. These were shrivelled up into automatons. 
They had skins of parchment, and tempers like—but 
I have abjured similes, and will not say—like what. 
Por months after I shuddered at my recollections of 
this Temple of Fashion—the type, sir, of hundreds— 


Chap. II.] 


THE ALPHA. 


175 


on whose altars, hung round with shrouds, hecatombs 
of maidens are yearly sacrificed ! Shame, shame on 
the men who have neither the sympathy, nor the 
courage, nor the wit, sir, to prevent it.” 

Here some slight noise awoke me, and interrupted 
a recital in which I had begun to take a peculiar in¬ 
terest. But for the interruption, I know not to what 
other scenes and circumstances, of which I have no 
waking knowledge, I may have been introduced by my 
loquacious persecutor : and herein consists its strange¬ 
ness. Until I had (as it were) heard the narrative, I 
was ignorant of it; and am still ignorant of what 
remains untold. 

I am not one of those who draw out-of-the-way 
inferences from dreams; nor do they often make any 
rememberable impression on my mind. The dream 
just related is one of the exceptions. The strange 
phenomenon it • exemplifies arrested my attention ; 
whilst the social bearings of the very common-place 
circumstances which passed in review before me, 
afforded me matter for much serious reflection, and 
led me, moreover, into certain grave inquiries, which, 
if they tended little to my immediate happiness, pre¬ 
pared my mind for the reception of those new and 
startling convictions that ultimately led to its attain¬ 
ment. I had often witnessed scenes of real misery, 
and had, not unfrequently, relieved them. From 
single cases of severe privation, I had been led to 
contemplate the physical and mental misery of whole 
classes of my fellow-creatures; and for many years I 


176 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


had been pretty actively engaged, lessening, as I 
vainly hoped, the sura of these miseries ; and that— 
on a scale bearing some proportion to their magnitude. 
But the fancy-painted fate of poor Lydia Brierley 
affected me more than the realities had ever done: 
and the words of my fantastic relater of her history, 
-—“ Oh, that poor Lydia Brierley had been a Pin !” 
absolutely haunted me for weeks. 

To render human beings more equal in Happiness 
by relieving the miseries of the miserable, has ever 
been the object of all Philanthropy : but hitherto, 
Civilis, Philanthropy has been a mistake. It is 
admitted that, to do good; to mitigate the misfor¬ 
tunes of the unfortunate; to relieve the miseries of 
the miserable • to reclaim the criminal; to encourage 
the virtuously-disposed; to feed the hungry; to clothe 
the naked; to heal the sick; to administer consola¬ 
tion to the dying; in fine—to lessen the sum of 
human evil in all its recognised forms and varieties, 
has ever been the object of the nobly-generous and 
sincerely philanthropic Pew. They have ever done 
their best, as far as social influences would permit 
them, to follow in the footsteps of their great 
Exemplar, who died to convince an unbelieving 
world—unbelieving, because unconvinced,—that Love 
alone is Happiness. But, had these Howards known 
that, for the most part, the good they did on one 
hand was the prolific cause of misery on the other; 
had they reflected that, as society is constituted, 
to raise one portion of their brethren from abjectness, 


Chap II.] 


THE ALPHA. 


177 


is to plunge another, and perhaps, a more “ de- 
serving” portion into it; even these Christ-like 
philanthropists could not have been happy men. 

Civilis. But is this necessarily so, Randolph ? Is 
our best, our most disinterested Benevolence reduced 
to this sad strait ? 

Randolph. I will suppose a case or two by way of 
illustration, and you shall judge. The wide-spread 
prostitution of the beautiful daughters of Poverty and 
Misfortune is a dreadful evil. If you build and en¬ 
dow “ Magdalens” to reclaim them, and make these 
Magdalens permanent and happy homes for the 
reformed sisterhood, you do no more than offer pre¬ 
miums for the prostitution you deplore. These 
refuges for “ Sin” will soon be peopled from the 
streets : yet these will still be full of the frail can¬ 
didates for a home, who, to be eligible, must Sin. 
Such homes, if permanent, would indeed be noble 
evidences of Philanthropy—that is, noble in inten¬ 
tion, and an unconscious homage would be thereby 
paid to the principle of Christian Love. But it is 
easy to see that the Benevolence would be less incon¬ 
sistent with itself, and far more just, if these homes 
were made the asylums of Innocence instead of Crime. 
And why is it not so ? Because this would be an open 
and avowed acknowledgment of the natural Right of 
all to share in the blessings which the beneficent God 
of Nature sends so abundantly for all; it would be a 
gratuitous declaration by the wealthy of the rottenness 
and injustice of the present system. This has never 


N 


178 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


been; or only to a very small extent. But it is clear 
that unless Charitable Asylums, and Penitentiaries for 
the reformation of Criminals be made permanent and 
comfortable homes for offenders against the criminal 
and moral Law, they are not, in reality, philanthropic; 
nor do they assist, except to a very small extent, in 
the subjugation of Evil, and the diminution of human 
suffering; as an example or two will prove. Say a 
thousand of the female Unfortunates just alluded to 
be annually reclaimed, for a time only provided for, 
and then returned into Society, competitors for 
employment : if they obtain the employment, a 
thousand of the previously-innocent are annually 
turned into the street, and the last resource of modesty 
is forced upon them. It is true, Civilis, that this 
system of purblind Benevolence makes work for well- 
meaning kindness to do : but it is also true that such 
charity serves only to perpetuate the evils it attempts 
to cure, and does not, I fear, diminish it one jot. 
Could the really benevolent see how small a modicum 
of good they actually do, their generous minds would 
turn away from the Sisyphus-labour in despair, if not 
in bewilderment and disgust. Take another example. 
Say, by way of guess, for I am not very conversant 
with statistics, that the number of criminals in the 
United Kingdom,—I mean, those persons who live by 
despoiling “ honest” men of the fruits of their own, or 
somebody else’s labour, is half a million : take the 
number of Beggars, probationary Thieves, and those 
persons who exist between roguery and insufficient 


Chap. IT.] 


THE ALPHA. 


179 


labour,—outcasts of Society all!—at half a million 
more; and we have a million of human beings amongst 
us in the most abject and pitiable condition in which 
it is possible for human beings to be placed. Suppose 
that by a philanthropic wish we could convert all these 
people into honest, high-minded men and women, each 
with a handicraft by which to earn a subsistence, and 
eacli determined to rely on it for this most commend¬ 
able purpose: suppose them further, by our wish, 
earning their subsistence by the labour of their hands, 
what have we accomplished ? We have transformed 
a million Thieves and Beggars into a million Workers : 
but we have also dispossessed a million workers of the 
means of living, and converted them into candidates 
for the Workhouse and the Jail. Is this well done ? 
And yet our intention was benevolent in the extreme. 

Civilis. I fear your position is but too true, 
Randolph : the only way I see out of it is, in such a 
case, to provide more labour by which to employ this 
million whom we have supposed rescued by a wish 
from idleness and crime. 

Randolph. But according to the system on which 
Society is at present established, Civilis, Employment 
will not be found unless it be “ remunerative” to the 
Capitalist or Employer. And that this cannot be, is 
proved by the half million of Paupers, many thousands 
of them “ able-bodied,” who almost constantly exist 
in our Union Workhouses. We have, therefore, by 
our wish, but converted a million of persons, who 
were previously earning a subsistence by the labour 
n 2 


180 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


of their hands, into a million wretches, whom, if 
Selfishness dared to be consistent, we should put to 
instant death. But, as Selfishness does not dare to 
be consistent, we can only do by them the thing next 
most consistent with our principles, namely, keep 
them in a parish prison on the smallest pittance pos¬ 
sible, and thus shorten their existence by sorrow, and 
imprisonment, and lingering starvation. This, Civilis, 
is precisely what we are doing now; except that 
competition, and an occasional extra demand for 
labour, come to the relief of the victims for a time, or 
possibly produce a change of sufferers. A child 
might see that there is no philanthropy in this. To 
heal the sick, to clothe the naked, to feed the hungry, 
is pure benevolence as far as it goes, because all this 
can be accomplished without much depressing other 
members of the indigent classes. If\ however , these 
methods of relieving indigence have the effect of raising 
the object of your bounty into a competitor ivith others 
in the “ labour-market ,” (though a windfall for the 
Tree-traders), it is clear, that, (all else remaining 
equal) his elevation is the depression of another some¬ 
where. As long, therefore, as there is not remunera¬ 
tive work for all who are willing to work, the labour 
of Benevolence, under the present system (and which, 
whether little or much, is a condemnation of the 
system), is but little more than labour in vain. The 
truly consistent men (whatever we may think of their 
Draco-like Philosophy), are those who denounce the 
necessary results of an inhuman system as “ SCOUN- 


Chap. II.] 


THE ALPHA. 


181 


DRELISM,” and, with the whip and gallows would 
attempt its extermination. No, Civilis : we must do 
one of two things,—pension Indigence for life on the 
wealthier classes, and, by thus making a comfortable 
provision for Idleness, do a monstrous injustice to 
Industry; or (which in principle is the same thing), 
feed it on the water-gruel of Pauperism in a Parish 
Poorhouse. The former mode of providing for 
Indigence, and of preventing Crime, is the gra¬ 
tuitous, WHILST THE LATTER IS THE FORCED, HOMAGE, 
THAT EVEN SELFISHNESS IS COMPELLED TO PAY TO 

the Christian principle, which is Love. This, 
Civilis, is the result of my investigations—investiga¬ 
tions which the dream I have just related suggested 
to me—on the philosophy of Benevolence. Its sug¬ 
gestions were equally useful in directing my attention 
to the philosophy of Work. It has lately become the 
fashion, as you well know, to attach an undue dignity 
to Work. England rejoices in a writer whose style 
is admirably suited to the impenetrability of his ideas: 
ideas which, when we can come at the meaning of 
them, are seen to be nothing more than the merest 
common-places, artfully rendered imposing by the 
darkness of the diction in which they are shrouded 
rather than evolved. There is a great mystery in 
book-making : and the writer in question is at the 
very head of his craft. One idea which w r e gather 
from his writings, and I am not sure that we are 
indebted to him for any other notion equally distinct, 
is, that Work dignifies the Worker. Musing on the 


182 


THE ALPHA. 


I Part 1I # 


fate of poor Lydia Brierley, I arrived at a very different 
conclusion. The building of bonnets; the fashioning 
of furbelows and flounces, may be necessary, in the 
present state of society, as a means of obtaining bread 
not otherwise obtainable; but to the worker in what 
consists its dignity! Either mankind are by nature 
equal, or they are not. If equal, then working to 
produce superfluities for others in order that the 
worker might obtain the commonest necessaries for 
himself, can be no other than injustice; and the work 
a galling evidence of his degradation. If they are 
not equal, then work only serves to force on the 
worker the humiliating conviction of his inferiority 
In either case work, instead of dignifying, degrades 
the worker. It is a very different thing where every 
man works for himself, and no man arrogantly claims 
a right to share in another man’s labour; or where, 
out of pure love, a man works voluntarily for another. 
There is perhaps no greater proof of the truth of these 
positions than that it is the great effort of all men to 
avoid the condition which makes hireling work a 
necessity; and that every man feels that work is not 
degrading just in the proportion that it is self-imposed. 
It is false, then, that mere physical labour, or, in 
fact, any labour which, performed for pay, recognises 
a class of professed idlers in society, can confer 
dignity on any man, however it might suit the pur¬ 
poses of a butterfly class, and its paid apologists, to 
propagate the fallacy. 

Equally false. Civilis, is every usage of Society, in 


Chap. II.] 


THE ALPHA. 


183 


every portion of the globe. The Religion, Morals, 
Customs, Manners, Laws of the entire Earth are 
false. Even Philanthropy is false in practice, and 
only true in aim. It would dispense benefits to all 
mankind ; but after the lapse of six thousand years, 
it has yet to be instructed how . Not by almsgiving; 
not by preaching reformation; not by abrogating 
Laws, or remodelling Institutions; but, by helping 
Men to know that they are Men. If by a wish, 
Civilis, I could exchange all that is false in the Laws 
and usages of Men for what is just and true, I would 
not wish that wish. It would accomplish nothing. 
But if I could draw aside the veil which hides men 
from themselves, I would draw that veil aside; and 
all would be accomplished. 

After arranging on a meeting for the morrow, 
Civilis left me. What transpired at that meeting 
will be detailed in the following chapter. 


184 


THE ALPHA. 


[Taut II. 


CHAPTER III. 

RANDOLPH. Cl VI LI S. 

Randolph. We have satisfied ourselves, Civilis, 
what Man is, spiritually. We have seen that his Soul 
is an Intelligent Principle, needing Knowledge, and 
designed and constituted by an all-intelligent Creator, 
solely for its attainment. We have seen that Know¬ 
ledge is Truth, or Right Convictions. We have seen 
that Truth is Philosophy, and its results Religion. We 
have seen that every individual Soul has within itself the 
capability of ascertaining and testing Truth ; that it 
neither needs assistance from without, nor can avail 
itself of such assistance, except by means of the evi¬ 
dence which brings conviction. We have seen for 
what beneficent purpose the Spiritual Soul is conjoined 
to a material body. We know that the conjunction 
of the Spirit with the Matter constitutes Man : that 
the matter is composed of organized parts : that the 
organization of the Matter is the Life of the Matter ; 
that is—that Life is the result of organization, or 
organization the result of Life. We know that Life 
is not conscious. We know also that the Soul is 
neither organized nor divisible : that it has not Life ; 
but that it is inherently conscious, intelligent, self- 
existent, and eternal;—a Thought, or Conception of 
the Deity,—-an Embryo Intelligence. We know that 


Chap. III.] 


THE ALPHA. 


185 


its first knowledge is instinctive; that it is the innate 
consciousness of its own individuality, and of its own 
existence: that it is the germ of all future know¬ 
ledge ; and that its added knowledge constitutes its 
Happiness. All these facts we have proved : we 
know them to be true. We know that the require¬ 
ments of the body are as nothing compared with the 
requirements of the Soul. We know that the purpose 
of the Soul’s existence is the attainment of know¬ 
ledge ; and that to suppose it to have been created 
for any other purpose, or to be capable of any other, 
is to entertain an erroneous notion, which necessarily 
leads to unhappiness and Evil. We know that 
Error proceeds from wrong convictions; and that 
convictions whether wrong or right are absolute in 
their influence ; hence, that Men are not “ Sinners,” 
because Error cannot “ Sin.” We know, therefore, 
that any assertion to the effect that Men are fallen, 
sinful, lost, and naturally degraded creatures, is false, 
and full of mischief. We know that the Soul has no 
attributes or qualities; and hence, that the Science 
called Metaphysics, which reasons on these supposed 
attributes as though they were real existences, is a 
false science, and its teachings vain. We know that 
the Soul has no moral nature: hence we know that 
the science of Morals is a false and deceptive science, 
adapted only to a false and artificial state of Society. 
We know that whatever teachings — though called 
knowledge—which are based on the false assumptions 
of these pseudo-sciences, is not knowledge; but 


186 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


baneful, soul-defrauding Error. We know that 
nearly all which passes in the world for Religion, is 
not Religion; but well-meant, though erroneous. 
Piety, degenerated into Eraud, We know that Juris¬ 
prudence, that Government, that the tenure of Pro¬ 
perty, that the principles of Commerce, that nearly 
all Education, that the greater portion of our Lite- 
ture, our Pine Arts, and all our Social Usages, 
Institutions, and Laws, are based on an equally false 
foundation, and hence that the knowledge supposed 
to be derivable from each of these sources, and from 
all of them, is, for the most part, false, and fraught 
with wide-spread calamity to the human race. I do 
not say, Civilis, that much Good has not been 
extracted out of these Evils,—for this is the intention 
of Evil: I do not say that this state of things has 
not been necessary and inevitable ; — for through 
ignorance and discomfort must Man attain to know¬ 
ledge and happiness : but, in the abstract all is either 
absolutely false, or the little that is true will be 
found to be only guesses at Truth, which, because 
untested by a principle, have never had the force of 
Truth. 

Paul in his letter to the Corinthians has well and 
truly said:— 

“ If the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who 
shall prepare himself to the battle ? ” Thus it is that 
men have struggled on under the doubtful guidance 
of their Soul-instincts, rather than by the illumination 
of certain Truth. Knowing the Principle by which 


Chap. III.] 


THE ALPHA. 


187 


all Truth is ascertained and tested, you know, Civilis, 
that all these positions are true. Some of them we 
have proved by unanswerable argument: others 
await this proof. I am pledged to supply what proofs 
are wanting: and you to watch and scrutinize the 
process: for we must “ Prove all things, and hold 
fast to that which is good.” 

The first cause of all things is Intelligence. This 
Principle shall henceforward govern mankind for 
ever. Men shall be Angels on the Earth; and the 
Earth shall be a teeming Paradise. “ Eor as many 
as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the Sons of 
God.” So said Paul to the wisdom-loving Greeks. 
Had Paul known the truth instead of guessing at it; 

HAD HE PREACHED KNOWLEDGE INSTEAD OP EaITH, 

there had been no need of the Alpha. But Paul was 
a noble fellow notwithstanding. In him the truth 
struggled hard for an utterance: but the time for 
its utterance had not then come. How manfully he 
strives against the Animalism of the world! How 
grandly he pleads for Spiritualism; persuaded of an 
inherent immortality, even whilst he half asserts, and 
half denies, the resurrection ! 

The Great First Principle op Life—op LIFE, 
Civilis, not of the inherently-existing Soul, but op 
Animal Life, IS SELFISHNESS. Two Plants grow¬ 
ing side by side, each heedless of the other, absorbs 
from the earth all the nourishment it needeth; or, 
if there be too little for both, then, all it can. 
Animals do the same instinctively. It is the great 


188 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


Law of Life. Whatever lives, blindly and un¬ 
knowingly, seeks to prolong its Life, until the pur¬ 
poses of its life are accomplished. It then dies. 
Nor, to unconscious Life, is death an Evil. Man 
the Animal is naturally Selfish—not the conscious 
Soul (the true Man), but the conventional man of 
Flesh. The Man that lives and dies is in¬ 
stinctively Selfish. With him, as with the un¬ 
reasoning brutes, and the insentient herbs and grass, 
Selfishness is the great Law of Life. Wherever 
there is a reasoning Soul, be it in the Dog, this law 
is modified. But for the true Man, the inherently 
conscious Soul, which for a time inhabits the living 
tenement of flesh, this Selfishness could not possibly 
work evil. But since the Body lives exclusively for 
the SouTs experience and education. Selfishness 
does work evil. All the real Evils we complain 
of are caused by Selfishness;—mere inconvenience 
is not an Evil—and by Selfishness they are per¬ 
petuated. The Soul, the true Man, is naturally 
unselfish ; and from the beginning until now its 
Instincts have warred against the principle—this 
Selfishness—which is the Law of Life. Out of this 
strife have grown all those modifying circumstances 
which have been invented to restrain the instinctive 
Selfishness of the Animal within rational and en¬ 
durable bounds;—I mean mystic Religion, Morals, 
Arts, Sciences, Literature, and Laws. By means of 
these, the Soul has endeavoured to assert its 
sovereignty, and to turn the Life of the outer man to 


Chap. III.] 


THE ALPHA. 


189 


its own immortal purposes. The struggle has been 
long; and sometimes fierce and terrible: but Mind 
is at length obtaining the mastery, and will have it. 
The modifying circumstances I have spoken of, 
deeply tainted as they are with the Selfishness which 
created them, or, for its own ends permitted their 
creation,—these Religious Morals, Sciences, Arts, 
Literatures, and Laws—have accomplished nearly all 
they are capable of accomplishing; and, in some 
places, more than they were intended to accomplish. 
They are the barriers by which Selfishness here 
restrains Selfishness yonder. Compromises, not 
Cures. They were never intended to exterminate 
Selfishness, (nor have they the Power); but rather to 
foster and perpetuate its existence by systemizing its 
action : for without such helps, the unrestrained 
Evil would be constantly preying on itself, and pro¬ 
curing its own destruction; thus, hindering for ever 
the progress of the Soul, and nullifying the purposes 
of its creation. Mind is proud of what it has ac¬ 
complished : and properly so. But it must accomplish 
more : it must acccomplish all. And to this end it 
must test the value of what it has done; and see what 
remains to do. It boasts great stores of Knowledge : 
it must see if it be Knowledge. It vaunts of its 
Morality: it must ascertain what its Morality is worth. 
It prides itself on its Religion: it must inquire what 
portion of it is true. It brags of its Justice: it 
must ascertain if it be anything more than a name. 
It rejoices in its Government and Laws : it must 


190 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part IT. 


determine whether they be not better suited to 
mere brute natures than to Men. It talks osten¬ 
tatiously of what it could do in the matter of General 
Education : but the Millions who are perishing for 
want of it, must see whether they cannot educate 
themselves. Be it our business, Civilis, to help them. 
And with this purpose in view, let us apply the 
touchstone of our First Principle to the several 
branches of our knowledge, and see whether there be 
not a better and more certain mode of educating the 
“Millions ” (were we generously agreed to do it) than 
even by throwing open our Schools and our Litera¬ 
ture ungrudgingly to all. In the progress of this 
investigation we shall not only prove the existence 
and universality of the Selfish Principle, and show 
the banefulness of its influence on the destinies of 
Men; but by seeing, as we shall do, that our Re¬ 
ligion, Morals, Literature, and Laws, are, (as I have 
just asserted) but modifications of this principle, we 
shall see the desirableness, and possibility, and I 
believe also, the appointed means, of its subversion. 
Placing the two Principles and their consequences 
in juxtaposition, we shall see which is the more 
suitable for the happiness, and the wants and pur¬ 
poses of humanity : and having done this, we will 
leave Mankind to decide between them: “ For where 
our treasure is, there will the heart be also.” Truth 
needs not the Priest, nor the Orator, nor the Faggot, 
nor the Sword, to propagate it. It requires but to 
be unveiled that it might be seen of men, to become 


Chap. III.] 


THE ALPHA. 


191 


the Law of their Souls, and to be established amongst 
them for ever. 

Civilis. I shall be a most willing listener, my dear 
Randolph: for though I know enough of the great 
Truth, to subscribe generally to the many important 
propositions you have just enunciated, I am still too 
much a Lawyer to dispense with the evidence by which 
you will, I am sure, substantiate your sweeping charges 
against the present knowings and doings of Society. 
Some minds, from habit, are incapable of grasping a 
great principle in its entiety, until, by means of 
evidence, they have mastered its leading facts : their 
genius is synthetical, not inductive. Mine is one of 
these. Hence I delight in evidence. Although I 
never really doubted the fact of my Souks existence; 
your logical demonstration of this fact in the begin¬ 
ning of the Alpha-vision has converted the feeling 
into a mathematical certainty, and the pleasure-afford¬ 
ing faith into an enduring happiness. In like manner, 
I have ever been persuaded of the Souks immortality; 
but had I been sceptical, your proofs in the Alpha- 
vision would have convinced me. I have never 
needed, I have never desired, an additional proof: and 
yet you have just given me one which is so logically 
conclusive, so obvious, so simple, so all-sufficient in 
itself, that I have no words to express the happiness 
your demonstration has afforded me. Because the 
Soul does not live, it cannot die ! why I would 
not, if I could, unknow this demonstration, to be 
absolute Emperor of the earth. For, say, Life is the 


192 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


Soul: it matters not. Life is then a tiling apart from 
Matter, and not a mere condition of Matter: an 
Essence which thinks independently of Matter: a 
thing which does not live, and therefore cannot die. 
So happiness-giving is, to me, a logical demonstration, 
that I could affect ignorance for the pleasure of being 
taught. 

Randolph. Beware of the common error, Civilis. 
Let self-reliance be the rule, and reliance on others 
the rare exception. What another mind can do, yours 
can do. But discussion is a spur to intellectual per¬ 
ception. Our minds are differently constituted; 
partly from physical differences, but chiefly from a 
difference in education, habit of thought, and the 
accidental disparity in our knowledge. It is these 
latter differences which cause the physical differences ; 
and hence the folly and uselessness of the labours of 
those pseudo-philosophers who call themselves Phreno¬ 
logists. Mental differences exist between us from the 
circumstances I have mentioned. We shall therefore 
regard Facts from different points of view, and thus 
be the means of conferring on each other a mutual 
advantage. Not, therefore, because I can teach you 
anything you could not discover for yourself, do I ask 
your attention : but because my reasons for believing 
a fact might be different to yours. 

Civilis. It is because I conceive that they will not 
only be different to mine, but better, that I am anxious 
to hear them. But I have another reason, and a 


Chap. IN.] 


THE ALPHA. 


193 


more important one. It is this. Although your 
First Principle is a major proof of the truth of things, 
which proof renders all minor proofs superfluous (be¬ 
cause it necessarily includes all others in itself); still, 
to prove the Minor facts separately, is to prove anew 
the truth of the Major Fact; and thus to make 
assurance doubly sure:—a great desideratum, Ran¬ 
dolph, in so great a matter. Therefore, to test its 
truth, that, if it stand the test, we might place it on 
high as a beacon-light to the entire world, and for all 
ages, I will scrutinize your facts and reasonings as 
though I were ignorant of the great Principle, or 
sceptical as to its truth. 

Randolph. You will find this a difficulty, Civilis : 
but the love of Truth which prompts the attempt 
makes me proud of my disciple. It is not, however, 
my intention to try your powers of simulation, or to 
tax your patience, overmuch; although to some 
extent this is necessary to a thorough comprehension 
of the Animal Principle (which at present governs all 
societies of Men), as well as more completely to test 
the Intellectual Principle which will ultimately sub¬ 
vert and supersede it. The modus operandi of the 
change may be expressed in a word, Education : an 
Education having one aim —the Intellectual per¬ 
fection AND HAPPINESS OF THE ENTIRE SPECIES ; and 
one Specific for their attainment , Truth. Our first 
business, therefore, is to ascertain how far the pre¬ 
sent mode of education is really conducive to Intel- 


o 


194 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


LECTUAL PERFECTION AND HAPPINESS ; and how much 

of the Knowledge we are so chary of is, in reality, 
Soul-enlarging Truth. 

The plan of examination I propose to adopt is this. 
Amongst the papers of my late brother, whom I will 
continue to designate by his adopted name of Diony¬ 
sius, are a mass of scattered Memoranda under a 
variety of heads, made by him evidently with a view 
to the systemized work he had been meditating for 
several years. These isolated Notes I have arranged 
with as much attention to order as their incomplete¬ 
ness would admit of; having interpolated an occa¬ 
sional sentence where such an addition was necessary 
to produce continuity of the subject-matter, and a 
connection of the several parts. These Memoranda I 
propose to read to you in the order of their present 
arrangement. The first division of these Notes refers 
to Metaphysics, Morality, and the Virtues. If the 
reasonings or assertions concerning these appear to 
us inconclusive, insufficient, or erroneous, the interval 
that will elapse before reading the Notes which com¬ 
prise the next division, I propose to devote to com¬ 
ment or discussion; and so of the others. This plan 
of proceeding will bring the entire subject we have to 
discuss systematically before us. I have no appre¬ 
hension as to the result. 

Civilis assented, and I proceeded to read the 
following— 


Chap. III.] 


THE ALPHA. 


195 


Extract from the Papers of Dionysius on 
Metaphysics, Morality, and the Virtues. 

“ The Human Soul being, like its Parent Deity, an 
Intelligent Principle, it follows that the Knowledge 
it can acquire is its Happiness, which, confined to 
itself, is the Happiness of Possession : but as Know¬ 
ledge is Love, the highest Happiness attainable by the 
Human Soul, is, like the highest it is possible to 
assign to the Deity, the Happiness of Distribution. 

“ It follows, therefore, that if Men lived up to the 
Standard of their spiritual nature, they would seek 
knowledge that they might attain Happiness; and 
they would distribute it without stint amongst their 
fellow-men, and this out of pure Love, and thus ob¬ 
tain for themselves the more exquisite happiness of 
Distribution. 

“ Here, then, we have a Principle which 

CLEARLY DETERMINES WHAT MEN OUGHT TO KNOW ; 
NAMELY, ALL TRUTH; AND WHAT THEY OUGHT 
TO DO ; NAMELY, All THE GOOD IN THEIR POWER, 
IF THEY WOULD FULFIL THE HIGH PURPOSES OF THEIR 
BEING, BE Men, AND ESCHEW THE MERE GRATI¬ 
FICATIONS AND CONDITION OF THE BRUTE. 

“It is manifest, then, that if we were to live 
up to the Standard of our Spiritual Nature, our desire 
for Possession, and all our intellectual energies, 
would be directed towards the attainment of Mental 
wealth, which we could distribute without the dread 
o 2 


196 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


of impoverishing ourselves; and as Knowledge is 
naturally sympathetic, we should no more seize upon 
and hoard material wealth, or material comforts and 
possessions, than we should be greedy in the matter 
of Knowledge. The former of these hypotheses de¬ 
scribes the present condition of the human family, 
and explains the origin of all the miseries known 
amongst us : whilst the other shows clearly the con¬ 
dition to which it must attain before happiness can 
be universal; before Evil can be banished from 
amongst us; and before we can make any con¬ 
siderable progress, individually or collectively, towards 
that Intellectual Perfection which it is our high 
privilege to strive for, and within the reach of our 
capacity to attain. To be convinced of these things, 
as I am, is a happiness indeed! 

“ Clearly, then, if Men had not chosen Animal 
gratifications as their chief good, their privilege of 
doing good would never have been enjoined on them 
as a duty; and that purely deific maxim, 4 Thou shalt 
Love thy neighbour as thyself/ would never have 
been propounded. But, as a duty it must now be 
enforced on humanity, until the pursuit of know¬ 
ledge as our chief good enables us to practise it as 
our most glorious and God-like privilege. 

“We need knowledge, which is an acquaintance 
with Truth: and we have a certain test for dis¬ 
covering Truth, and distinguishing it from 
Ealsehood. Some of the ancient Philosophers nearly 
reached it. Plato, Socrates, Zeno, and others. 


Chap. III.] 


THE ALPHA. 


197 


They were lovers of Knowledge: Philosophers in 
that sense : but not so in any other. They had a 
clearer conception of Deity than many of us moderns: 
perhaps clearer than most of us, notwithstanding 
that we pretend to a more familiar—a much too 
familiar, acquaintance; but they had not conceived 
of the true nature of the Human Soul. Their 
Knowledge ascended only to the point of Pride: it 
never touched that altitude which converts it into 
Love. Socrates nearly reached it: perhaps touched it: 
but Persecution sent him to an untimely death. The 
Greek Philosophers erred in thinking the mass of 
men inferior to themselves in nature. They did not 
rise above the conception of Law as a restraint to 
the licentiousness of Ignorance; and statues, and 
civic crowns, as rewards and incitements to virtue. 
But for these impediments, their Pride of Intellect, 
which made them dictators, and their reverence for 
Virtue, or rather for the Virtues, as Justice, Probity, 
Fortitude, Valour, Love of Country, and the rest, 
they would inevitably have reached the First Truth. 
Plato’s “ Republic” held tlie practice of the virtues 
to he the chief good —the utmost limit of attainable 
perfection. It was a nullity : a dream : it could not 
work. And, why ? Because the Virtues are chimeras, 
nonentities ; Justice is a name, not a reality. Friend¬ 
ship (reduced to action), a wrong done somewhere; 
and Patriotism, mere national Selfishness. Nothing 
can be good, or right, or true, or have any real 
existence, which pertains, exclusively, to an individual 


198 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part IT. 


man, or to a class of men, or to a nation. Make it 
universal, and its very universality deprives it of ex¬ 
istence. In this consists the simple grandeur of real 
Christianity. The catholicity it teaches swallows up 
Morality, and extinguishes the Virtues. The con¬ 
ception is grand, and makes the Pride, and the 
theorizings of “ Philosophy” ridiculous. Christ 
taught Love : but he should have preached 
Knowledge, which, in its universality, is Love. 
He taught that the Soul is immortal: but his 
Metaphysics were at fault, and he could not demon¬ 
strate the fact: he left this doubtful: and his grand 
but simple system could not work. Volumes might 
be written on the non-necessity, and undesirableness 
of the Moralities and the Virtues ; but by the aid of 
the First Principle, a single sentence logically dis¬ 
poses of them. 

“ Vice and Immorality ought not to exist amongst 
us. Now if these had no existence, neither could the 
Moralities and the Virtues exist. As the latter can¬ 
not exist without the former; and as the former 
ought not to exist at all; it follows that the Virtues 
and the Moralities ought, as soon as possible, to be 
dispensed with. What then shall we say of the 
Literature that enjoins on mankind the practice of 
these undesirable qualities ? Why, that the authors 
of this Literature do not know what they are recom¬ 
mending. We might test their efficacy and useful¬ 
ness in another way. 

“ If Virtue is a good, and I possess the means of 


Chap. III.] 


THE ALPHA. 


199 


being virtuous, it is my privilege under the Mental 
system, or my duty under the Animal one, to extend 
the means of being virtuous as widely as possible 
amongst my brethren: and if this is my duty, it is 
the duty of all men : and if all men did their duty; 
and all men availed themselves of the means—which 
it will be admitted is desirable, then all men would 
be virtuous ; but as there could be no appreciation 
of the virtue in the absence of Vice, Virtue, in effect, 
would have no existence. And this is what all good 
men, all catholic-minded men, must earnestly desire. 
Christ’s catholicity reached this point: but out of it 
grew a creed: and Faith was enjoined on men 
instead of Knowledge ; hence its failure. 

“ Now, what is the cause of Vice ? In the lan¬ 
guage of the world it is Injustice : in the language of 
true Philosophy, it is Ignorance, or False Convictions. 
What cherishes it ? These same False Convictions. 
What stands, like a bulwark, in the way of its 
repression ? Again, Ignorance ; of which the Selfish 
Principle is at once the parent and the nurse. 

“ Benevolence is one of the most beautiful of the 
virtues. What a wilderness of misery would our 
ill-governed world be without it! Yet, the more 
need there is of Benevolence, the more Misery must 
exist for Benevolence to alleviate. But the wretched¬ 
ness with which it co-exists is a dreadful Evil. The 
former cannot exist without the latter. Seeing this 
sad fact, how many have doubted even the existence 
of a God; or, believing in his existence, have 


200 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


arraigned his Government! When, alas ! we wil¬ 
fully shut our eyes to the general Laws by which 
he governs; make Laws of our own ; and, in our 
besotted ignorance, fit them for Animals, not for 
dual-natured Men. In these, our Laws, we shall 
find that the Vices and the Virtues have their birth. 
Both are human : neither is divine. 

“ Wliat, I ask again, shall we say of the Literature 
which represents the Moralities and the Virtues as 
the greatest good attainable by Man, and a passport 
to that happiness in Heaven which we fail to get 
even a glimpse of on Earth ? Why, simply that it 
values them at more than they are worth; and that, 
however necessary they may be whilst Ignorance 
fosters Evil, the sooner the world can do without 
them, the better. They are human contrivances, 
and commingled with misery; and the Literature which 
would perpetuate them, though locked up from the 
millions, is not of half the value as this one sentence 
of Truth:— 

“ Eellow-mortals ! DEGRADED and miserable 
THOUGH MILLIONS AMONGST YOU ARE, YOUR ELEVA¬ 
TION MUST COME THROUGH THE CULTIVATION OP YOUR 

Intellect, and your regeneration must be the 

WORK OP YOURSELVES. 

“But, the Metaphysicians? what are they about? 
Helping the Moralists ! So much, then, for the labours 
of the Moral Philosopher and the Metaphysician ! 
To what shifts have not the former been put to 
define his Morality ; or to tell us, in any case, where 


CnAP. III.] 


THE ALPHA. 


201 


Morality ceases, and Immorality begins ! And to 
the Metaphysician we are about equally indebted. 
What do we learn from either that it behoves us to 
know ? As to Metaphysics, our course is clear: we 
know enough for all useful purposes by knowing the 
beginning,—which Metaphysics do not teach : and to 
the professors of this occult science we may safely 
leave all the subtle distinctions and incomprehensible 
quiddities by which they delight to exhibit their 
profundities, perplex their readers, and deceive them¬ 
selves. The ditferent phases of Mind are merely 
different phases or degrees of Knowledge. Our 
Wonder is the outward and visible sign of our Igno¬ 
rance. Hope and Fear, Joy and Grief, are phases 
of Ignorance. All our violent Passions are the result 
of social wrong, which is, again, the result of Igno¬ 
rance. Our Judgment is complex Reason, and our 
Reason is complex Perception. We judge wrongly 
when we judge in ignorance; and rightly when our 
perception has made sure of its facts. Our Imagi¬ 
nation is a Soul-instinct, in its impatience for Know¬ 
ledge, assuming facts on which to build some possible 
or impossible fabric of events as a solace to the ever- 
inquiring Soul. These assumptions are always legi¬ 
timate, and, in their consequences, always good, 
when they are regarded as assumptions , and not as 
true Facts; or, when they lead to the investigation 
which proves whether they belong to the category of 
Falsehood or of Truth. They (these assumptions) are 
Evil in their consequences, when, unproved, they are 


202 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


negligently or ignorantly viewed by the ignorant as 
proved verities. And, alas! there is much of this 
evil in the world: and none greater or more mis¬ 
chievous than has arisen from regarding the specula¬ 
tions of Poetry as genuine Prophecy; which never 
did exist, and never will. And this, which no Meta¬ 
physician has told us, is the whole mystery of 
Metaphysics! 

“ Our pleasures are chiefly animal and selfish— 
even those which arise from our Mentality; which 
happens thus : we ignorantly convert the pleasures 
of Sense (which are pleasure-giving means for the 
acquisition of knowledge) into the end and object of 
our existence. Nearly all our Pine Arts are thus 
desecrated and misemployed. Our selfish love of 
these animalisms (which Metaphysicians and Moralists 
approve of because they are natural, and, in their 
subservient ignorance, defend,) would become rapa¬ 
cious and intolerable were they not subjected to some 
restraint: hence, in order to set limits to the chaos 
of evil induced by these irrational indulgences; we 
contrive Laws, and manufacture Morals, and set up 
tribunals, and invent punishments, and concoct vir¬ 
tues, and imagine grotesque systems of pains and 
penalties in the world to come ; and thus perpetuate 
them, irrational as they are, and, as far as in us lies, 
entail them on the world for ever. 

“ To the dreamy labours of the Metaphysician and 
the Moral Philosopher is intrusted the task of ex¬ 
plaining these Passions and ill-directed Desires, and 


CnAP. III.] 


THE ALPHA. 


203 


of determining how far they can go innocently, and, 
(as if such a thing were possible), where Innocence 
inspissates into crime ! Of course, without a First 
Principle, the whole of this pretended ingenuity is but 
guess-work and mere dicta, of less value than yester¬ 
day’s “ Times,” or “ Moore’s Prophetic Almanack” of 
last year. 

“ Seriously, however, I do not censure these 
Morality-meters ; for were it not for the restraints 
which their labours impose on a portion of mankind, 
there would be nothing but licentiousness and un¬ 
mitigated misery in the world. As it is, we have 
Virtues and Moralities as the counterpoise of Evil; 
and we have the externals of decorum, and the sem¬ 
blance of knowledge, in place of the more rational 
realities. No, we will not seriously blame them for 
laying hold of Virtue because they could not reach In¬ 
telligence. Let us rather honour them for their 
benevolent efforts to make the best substitute within 
their reach do the work of the true operator beyond it. 
But praise cannot be given them except for their 
ingenuity and good intentions. To speak of them as 
men of Genius, or as intrepid pioneers hewing out a 
way for the progress of mankind towards the perfection 
attainable by their nature, would be to satirise, rather 
than to commend them. 

“ Thus even our Ethics and Metaphysics, which, 
next to our Religion, profess the most; and which are, 
at last, the very pith and marrow of all our educational 
Literature,—excepting only the purely Scientific— 


204 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


contain little or nothing of that knowledge which the 
Intelligent Principle within us prompts us, by its 
yearning after rational happiness, to know.” 

Randolph. Here ends, Civilis, the cursory, but 
argumentative Memoranda of Dionysius on these 
hitherto-lauded branches of our educational knowledge. 
They are again referred to in his similarly-searching 
essay on our imaginative and didactic Literature. 
Their history is traced in his essay on Government 
and Laws. But, in the essay I have just read, his 
argument, as to the abstract inutility and undesirable¬ 
ness of Morality and the Virtues as aids to human 
perfectibility, is, I think of itself, unanswerable and 
conclusive. No one will be bold enough to affirm that 
Vice and Crime ought to be cherished amongst men, 
in order that Virtue and Morality should have a being. 
At least, there are none who would assent to the 
naked proposition. But if we view the subject a little 
more in detail, we shall see that there are tens of 
thousands of persons in all communities, by courtesy 
called Civilized, who have a direct interest in the con¬ 
tinuance of Vice and Crime that leads directly to 
their fosterage. And these very persous are, more¬ 
over, everywhere the sinews of the national Power, 
and the chief exponents of the national intelligence. 
Alas ! Civilis, is this Civilization ? You perceive 
that, not only do Vice and Crime give activity to 
the Moralities and the Virtues, keeping their practisers 
and propagators busy in what has the external 


Chap III.] 


THE ALPHA. 


205 


resemblance of Good; but they give dignified, per¬ 
haps “ honest,” employment to Law-makers; to 
salaried Judges ; to stipendiary Magistrates ; to paid 
Advocates and Lawyers; to Jailors ; to Turnkeys; to 
Hangmen; to Police Commissioners, and all their 
salaried subordinates down to the thief-catching con¬ 
stable ; to Military and Naval Commanders, their 
Subalterns, and men. All these, it must, I suppose, 
be confessed, procure “ honest” livings, and, no doubt, 
live themselves most virtuously, by the simple con¬ 
tinuance of Wickedness and Crime. Nor in this 
catalogue have I included the clergy of all denomina¬ 
tions who thrive on immorality and irreligion. I 
just now assumed that no one would be bold enough 
to contend that Vice and Crime ought to be cherished, 
even to keep the white-robed Virtues amongst us. 
Yet, with such an array of good places, and good 
things, that would be lost to their present possessors 
and future expectants, for ever, I feel constrained to 
withdraw the assumption; and that from sheer lack 
of faith in the potency of Virtue and “Religion.” 
Of course, such a sacrifice of Interests can never be 
required; because the change, if it ever come, must 
be too gradual to need it: and the reformation, more¬ 
over, is too distant to cause the present race of pos¬ 
sessors or expectants the slightest alarm. I have 
merely put the case to show you the anomalous state 
of things that inheres to the system in which the 
Moralities and the Virtues have their being: for 

CERTAINLY, NO EVENT COULD BE MORE CALAMITOUS 


206 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


to the Lights and Leaders of the world, than 

THE SUDDEN CESSATION OF IMMORALITY AND CRIME ! 

Civilis. You warned me beforehand, that my 
office of Scrutator on the part of Society, would be a 
difficult one. So far, I find the task I have under¬ 
taken an impossible one. Certain it is that the 
Selfish System thrives on Vice, and battens on human 
degradation and misery. It is equally certain, that 
Morality and Virtue must be superseded by the 
element of a new System, Intelligence. But when 
“ the white-robed Virtues” have gone, Mankind shall 
build a monument to their memory; and many an 
old-world name shall be inscribed upon it! And 
yet, the greatest names shall not be there: for 
Poverty keeps no record of its generous sacrifices. 
I doubt, Randolph, if Intelligence will ever rear such 
sterling worth, such large-souled Men, as, in loving 
Faith, have daily sacrificed to Virtue ? 

Randolph. Give All Men Virtue, which is Love, 
which is Intelligence, and it will find new modes of 
action. Not individuals will it raise from wretched¬ 
ness ; but, with a larger aim, every new act of Love 
shall confer happiness on a world. 

Civilis. T admit your plea of Catholicity, and 
yield. But I have a word to say on Metaphysics. 
The reasoning of Dionysius dwarfs this science into 
nothingness. He, however, omits to tell us what is 
Memory. I appeal to you. How should the Soul 
which knoweth what it knows, forget what it knoweth, 


Chap. III.] 


THE ALPHA. 


207 


and thus have need of that something we call 
Memory ? What is Forgetfulness ? What is Memory? 
If there be that partial oblivion which we call Forget¬ 
fulness, then there is Memory, Recollection, or a 
recalling what is a part of the Mind into the presence 
of itself, to be scanned again, and again to be for¬ 
gotten : for if the Mind does not always remember 
what it knows, it certainly forgets what it knows : 
and that it does not always remember, or keep clearly 
before itself, facts which are completely its own, is 
evident by this :—I sometimes think of myself, then, 
forgetting myself, I think of facts external to myself; 
as of this rose, and its colour, odour, form; or I 
reflect on facts which are a part of myself; as, two 
and two make four. The relation of myself to myself 
is so close that there never can be a gap between 
them; and yet, in thinking of this rose I forget my¬ 
self : in thinking of my hand, I forget my spiritual 
self. I know that I exist: I know also that my 
existence is not your existence: but I do not always 
think of these facts. They are remembered, and then 
forgotten; forgotten, and again remembered; and 
never is my knowledge remembered all at once. 
And sometimes when it is important to me that I 
should remember a well-known fact, I do not remem¬ 
ber it until the occasion has passed for its use. There 
is, then, such a thing as Obliviousness, and such a 
thing as Memory. Will your Principle, which should 
explain all mental phenomena, enable you to explain 


208 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


these? Dionysius either did not perceive the diffi¬ 
culty, or he availed himself of the very shabbiest of 
the Virtues, and avoided it. 

Randolph. The true spirit of purchasable, either- 
side-advocacy seems to have descended upon you, 
Civilis: and your last remark is worthy of the inspi¬ 
ration. When “ the right hand shall forget its cun¬ 
ning,” the habitual Advocate shall forget his art.-- 

No!—do not apologize: a, professional sarcasm is 
never very damaging. The wit is had recourse to 
when the cause is lost, and is thrown in by way of a 
quid pro quo to the client for his costs. Barring the 
banter, there is something in your remarks on Memory; 
hut not much. Dionysius explains the nature of 
Imagination : and you have described, or nearly so, 
the nature of Memory. What either is (except 
that they are circumstances, and not things) is as 
little capable of being described in words, as what 
the essence is we call the Soul. “ We know enough” 
—as Dionysius expresses it—“for all useful pur¬ 
poses,” by knowing the true nature of the Soul: 
which knowledge is the whole of Metaphysics; and 
is, moreover, the only metaphysical knowledge the 
Metaphysicians have failed to afford us. 

It is assumed in our philosophy that whatever fact 
Consciousness, or the Soul, once perceives, it always 
retains. This innate and necessary power of reten¬ 
tion—and which is part of the Soul’s nature, is what 
we mean by Memory. It has also the power of ab¬ 
straction, in which is included what we mean by 



Chap. III.] 


THE ALPHA. 


209 


Forgetfulness. Without this necessary and inherent 
power of abstraction, we could not analyse a complex 
idea, nor, from particulars, ascend to generals. Some 
sceptics have assumed that because the Thinking 
Principle does not always think, it might sometime 
cease to think; and ceasing to think, be nothing. 
And one of your remarks seems to glance at this con¬ 
clusion. But this partial obliviousness is as necessary 
to the Soul’s progress in knowledge as the power we 
call Reason : and since the purpose of this power is 
progression , the existence of the purpose proves the 
very converse of the sceptic’s conclusion : for why 
should there be progression at all, or thought at all, if 
it lead to nothing ? These innate powers of the Soul 
prove a purpose; and the purpose proves the immor¬ 
tality. But, to return. What the Soul once per¬ 
ceives and knows it always retains : it is a new con¬ 
sciousness added to the First Consciousness ; in other 
words—it is the Thinking Principle, expanding itself 
into a new perception of collateral facts. But, sup¬ 
pose, Civilis, that, in the perception of new facts, the 
Soul does not perceive the relation these new facts 
bear to itself, or to each other, then , the new facts 
are isolated: they do not form part of a series which 
make up one entire whole, and this, for want of a 
perception of the intermediate facts which would 
complete the chain. Being isolated, until the soul 
makes an effort to remember them, or some accidental 
circumstance recalls them—they are forgotten. This 
new perception (or re-perception) of forgotten facts 

p 


210 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


constitutes the act of Memory: and the cause of the 
forgetfulness (where, for the purposes of abstraction 
they have not been purposely laid aside), is the want 
of the connecting fact or facts which would have ren¬ 
dered the whole series one entire body of facts, or a 
concentrated Soul. Where this connection exists— 
that is, where every fact which the Intelligent Prin¬ 
ciple has once perceived, is seen to have the same 
relation to itself as effects have to their causes, and 
as all minor causes have to the major, or first cause; 
the circumstance called Memory has no positive exist¬ 
ence, because there is no gap to produce Forgetful¬ 
ness. The cause of Forgetfulness is, therefore, the 
non-perception of the principle which shows the rela¬ 
tion of all truth to the First Truth: for all things are 
One: and all being resolvable into this One, if we 
had a clear perception of every separate fact, including, 
of course, the fact which connects them into unity, 
we should be perfect Intelligences; and the circum¬ 
stance, or phenomenon, we call Memory, would cease. 
So also would Reason \ so also would Imagination, 
and the rest. 

The Soul, then, is a Real Existence: a tinny which 
is, and is conscious that it is. Forgetfulness is a 
non-self-conscious Circumstance: a condition caused 
by our partial Ignorance, but necessary to our progress 
in knowledge: and because of its necessity, we have 
the power to produce it by concentrating the Thinking 
Principle on any particular idea or fact with a view to 
a complete examination of such idea or fact. This 


Chap. III.] 


THE ALPHA. 


211 


Power we call Abstraction. The Facts or Knowledge 
which are thus purposely laid aside or forgotten, are 
however, still retained in the Mind. This retentive 
circumstance is Memory : and the power of recalling 
forgotten facts at will, is Remembrance or Recollection. 
They are, however, constantly being recalled by acci¬ 
dental circumstances. A flower loved in childhood re¬ 
calls all the circumstances of our childhood with which 
that flower is associated. Thus, ideas are conveniently 
associated in chains that they might be laid aside 
without being absolutely forgotten. But Principles 
are the strongest, because the simplest, and most 
systematic cementers of our facts. We are thus ad¬ 
monished to get Principles, because a Principle 
contains within itself all the separate facts which exist 
in connection with it. To have, and to comprehend, 
the principle, is to possess the facts; and what is 
more, to know their nature, value, and use. To 

ARRIVE AT THE PERFECTION OF KNOWLEDGE, ALL 
ISOLATED FACTS, OR ISOLATED CHAINS OF FACTS, 
SHOULD BE UNITED INTO ONE SERIES OR CHAIN. 

The uniting links must be Principles. Secure 
a Principle, and not only all known facts, but all 
the unknown facts, connected by natural relationship 
with the Principle, are within the grasp of the Mind. 
So that, having the Principle, which by its relation¬ 
ship to the facts, secures these facts, the Mind might 
relieve itself of the labour of retention, and throw the 
records of its facts away. The Mind is then at greater 
liberty to pursue new chains of thought, and thus 

p 2 


212 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


arrive at new principles; and with the like result. Then, 
viewing the Principles thus attained as separate Pacts; 
IF WE CAN UNITE THESE PACTS BY ONE PRINCIPLE WHICH 
GOVERNS AND DETERMINES THEIR RELATIONSHIP ; THE 
WHOLE MASS OF SEPARATE FACTS ARE CONNECTED AND 
ARRANGED INTO ONE ENTIRE SERIES OR CHAIN OF 

Pacts ; and, in effect, all our knowledge is re¬ 
membered at once. The Mind acts as a whole : 

AND, THAT, CONSISTENTLY. All OUR THOUGHTS ARE 
DIRECTED TO ONE END : ALL OUR ACTIONS HAVE ONE 
PURPOSE : EACH ONE IS CONSISTENT WITH ALL THE 
OTHERS ; AND THE SOUL MAKES PROGRESS IN IN¬ 
TELLIGENCE WITH ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY. ALL KNOW¬ 
LEDGE IS WITHIN OUR REACH : AND PERFECTION IS 

seen to be attainable. This all-uniting Principle 
is ours: and the partial Porgetfulness which the 
Metaphysicians have not explained, and which have 
been a stumbling-block to Sceptics, is seen to be a 
necessary and most important aid to the Soul in its 
progress towards its purposed Perfection. 

Civilis. Thank you, my dear Randolph. You 
have given me food for thought during the inter¬ 
val that will elapse before our next meeting. You 
have shed a new light on the nature and office of 
Memory. You have, moreover, rescued Porgetfulness 
from being any longer regarded as a natural defect 
of the human mind, or as a proof of Man’s inherent 
imperfection. To a mind that has been taught from 
the earliest dawn of its intelligence to regard itself 
as necessarily imperfect and helplessly dependent, I 


Chap. HI.] 


THE ALPHA. 


213 


cannot imagine anything to be more consoling. It 
makes one blush, Randolph, to think that with all our 
pretensions to Religion, and all our fancied reverence 
towards the Deity, we have been every moment dis¬ 
honouring that Being by our Ignorance ! How true 
it is that Ignorance, disguise it as you will with 
Mitre, Cowl, and Vestments sacerdotal, cannot be 
either reverential or religious !—But, my dear Ran¬ 
dolph ; as the First Truth contains all other Truth, 
making its Possessor almost a perfect Memory, I 
foresee that the art of Printing, hitherto of such 
vast importance to mankind, will, in the process of 
time, be nearly superseded by the dissemination of 
the First Principle. For all controversy, and specu¬ 
lation, and opinion regarding Right and Wrong, 
and all Didactic teaching—the chief employment of 
the Printing Press at present—will be no longer 
needed when, by referring to an eternal Standard 
of Truth existing in their own minds, men can 
determine the truth of all such matters for them¬ 
selves ! Maranatpia ! Maranatha ! Verily, the Lord 
cometh! The Lord is come I In the dim distance I 
see the world of Humanity united by the power of 
a Single Truth! There is one Fold; and one 
Shepherd : and the God of all Truth dwells amongst 
his intellectual creatures: and the Nations of the 
Earth are one Nation; and all mankind are happy 1 
Poets, and Patriarchs, and Prophets have seen it! 
Not a dream of the Past was the Golden Age of 
the Poet: but a truthful foresight of his Soul gazing 


214 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


onwards through the haze of forty centuries into 
the Future the possible Future! which now I 
see more clearly than the most truthful records could 

picture to my mind the Past!-How ! Randolph ! 

We were talking of Memory.-1 have felt what 

Inspiration is ! My soul has foreseen the Future !— 
but the ecstacy is past.—The habit of my Mind for¬ 
bids that I should see this stupendous subject in its 
entiety, and long retain it. Doubtless this is well. 
But tell me, how happens this? I perceive the 
whole as in a phantasmagoria: then all again is dark ! 

Randolph. A mind disciplined to Falsehood and 
Error needs some discipline to accustom it to Truth. 
You must see every phase of the subject: study it: 
dissect it. You must also see Falsehood in all its forms: 
study, and dissect it too; strip from its face the 
mask it wears, and contemplate the Impostor in all 
its nude deformity. This is the discipline you need. 
Be patient! and I who have passed through all the 
mazes of Doubt and Difficulty, will lead you through 
the labyrinth. I know your present state of mind. 
You get occasional glimpses of the entire Truth; but 
not having tested every part, and thus systemized it in 
your mind, it escapes you. By the time we get to the 
end of our survey this idiosyncrasy will cease. The 
light will be a mild and steady light. At present, it 
is like the concentrated rays of a mighty lens, too 
ardent, and too dazzling to be gazed upon. You 
look full at the Sun and its brilliancy but blinds you. 

Civilis. I am, however, deeply grateful for these 




Chap. III.] 


THE ALPHA. 


215 


momentary gleams of Happiness. When my pro¬ 
phetic fit was on me, Randolph, you must have 
thought me a little crazed. Certainly, to sober- 
minded Sensualists, my rhapsody would have looked 
like Madness.—By the way, Randolph; what is 
Madness, Lunacy, Derangement? Is it possible 

THAT THE MlND CAN BE DISEASED ? 

Randolph. Deranged, Civilis; but certainly not 
diseased. The physical organs, through which the 
Mind perceives external objects, may, from many 
causes, become diseased: false impressions are thereby 
produced ; and these produce erroneous convictions: 
but the Soul is neither diseased nor mad. All Error 
may be said to be insanity, no matter how produced; 
whether by reasoning rightly on false premises, or 
by making false deductions from true ones. The 
cure for all such madness is the Truth. This, how¬ 
ever, is not Madness as men at present understand 
it. And, yet, there is no other lunacy than this. 
John Dalton’s visual organs conveyed to his sen- 
sorium impressions of colours different to those of 
other men : but John Dalton was not mad. Idiots, 
whose physical organs are deficient, or defective, are 
not mad. They have Souls as sane as those of other 
men; but Knowledge cannot reach them. These 
Idiots are physical malformations: accidents of a 
general Law: or the result of physical disease in 
their parents. Men may overwork an organ until it 
grow diseased and produce wrong impressions; which 
will necessarily result in wrong convictions, and 


210 


THE ALPHA. 


[Paut It. 


erroneous sentiments and acts. The visual organs 
of Milton (it is said) were overwrought: he went 
blind, not mad. He wrote a grandly poetical history 
of the “ Fall of Man.” This work, judging from its 
absurdity, is more like a manifestation of what men 
denominate Madness: but, though wrong in all its 
facts and reasonings, it was the result of a strong 
conviction, and not of “ a mind diseased.” Mental 
Derangement is nothing more than a confusion or 
derangement of ideas : a multitude of disconnected 
facts, which, after two thirds of a laborious lifetime 
spent in their collection, the Possessor perceives to 
be valueless: hence, they but confound his reason. 
They have cost him a lifetime, yet amount to 
nothing ! He lacks the First Principle by which 
alone they can be arranged and systemized into soul- 
satisfying knowledge. The energies of his defrauded 
Soul droop under the disappointment: Memory 
becomes a burthen, and Obliviousness a blessing. 
This state of mind occurs only to those who have 
a great object in their researches. The mass of 
collectors of old-world facts, and antiquated philo¬ 
sophy, are satisfied by the labour ; and are pleased 
with being the known repositories of a dead, profit¬ 
less mass of useless trifles. They look as com¬ 
placently and solemnly grand (and the grandeur of 
the look with them is everything,) as looks our 
Grand Museum : — a Temple enshrining fragments 
from which the soul has fled : a monument of ab¬ 
surdity and affectation: and yet, withal, a splendid 


Chap. III.] 


THE ALPHA. 


217 


evidence of what men ought to be, and wish to be, 
but are not. Now and then, from amongst this 
crowd of solemn triflers, starts an earnest man whose 
aim is the discovery of a living, soul-exalting Truth. 
To him, disappointment often brings what men call 
madness — ungovernable irritability of temper, or a 
total prostration of the Intellect. It is said that a 
justly celebrated, deeply-thinking man of our own 
day, after long and laborious researches into the 
wrecks of an antediluvian world, is himself a wreck. 
And, probably, the overwork of particular organs, 
and a chaos of ideas incident to the want of the First 
Principle, form the lamentable cause of his calamity. 
Here, then, is mental derangement, and perhaps 
physical disease. The Physician should cure the 
one, and the Metaphysician, the other. All that is 
required to restore equilibrium and a rational activity 
of mind, is that he should be kindly and gently 
conversed with; the truth of the First Principle 
carefully insinuated, and the facts of the physical 
science he has for years been gathering, be presented 
to him in their true light. In a short time he would 
be, not only the man he was; but a greater man. 
He has been delving after the Truth; but, failing to 
reconcile a multitude of anomalies (which a com¬ 
parison of true facts with false ones ever must pro¬ 
duce,) Derangement followed: and this is Lunacy; 
for where “ Madness” is not the result of physical 
disease, it is nothing more than mere bewilderment, 
which the Truth can cure. Disease cannot touch 


218 


THE ALPHA. 


[Pabt II. 


the immaterial Mind. Show him the Truth for 
which he has been vainly striving; and his vigour of 
mind, namely, his Memory, will return to him in all 
its pristine strength; and his Knowledge,—useless 
in its derangement—will shape itself into one easily- 
remembered, happiness-giving whole. 

Civilis. Then Shakspere’s interrogation— 

“ Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased ; 

“ Pluck prom the memory a rooted sorrow ; 

“ Raze out the written troubles op the brain ; 

“ And with some sweet oblivious antidote, 

“ Cleanse the stupf’d bosom of that perilous 

STUFP 

“ Which weighs upon the heart,”— 

the falsehood that oppresses it, —might be an¬ 
swered in the affirmative ? 

Randolph. Ay, Civilis : not, however, forgetting 
his answer to whom the question was addressed :— 

“ Therein the patient must minister to 

HIMSELP — 

Por, although he who knows more than another, 
has, to some extent the happiness-affording power to 
help another by unveiling the hidden truth, the other 
must take the trouble to perceive it for himself. I 
am firmly persuaded that in the case of this celebrated 
man, as well as in all cases similar to his, our “ sweet 
oblivious antidote,” the Truth, would reach the 
malady. You now see, Civilis, why “ doting Age” 


Chap. III.] 


THE ALPHA. 


219 


grows childish; and why Memory (which is the 
Mind) breaks down and deserts its owner. Oh, 
Civilis, the Memory would not fade ; there wonld be 
no “ decay” of the immortal Mind; no “ second 
childishness and mere oblivion,” were the One 
Truth universally known to which all other verities 

tend ; AND WHICH, UNITED, MAKES THE MlND OF 

Man One with his immortal Soul, — an ever- 
living Memory. You were right in what you just 
now said about the Printing Press. In the coming 
Future its progress-helping capabilities will scarce 
be needed. But as things are, that which should 
form the living memories of men exists, (in the form 
of dead opinions,) in books of other men’s inditing; 
and the most studious amongst us—read, read, read, 
in the vain hope of securing for ourselves an 
individuality. But, Opinions cannot make an 
individuality. Truth alone can accomplish this. 
When Truth is universal, then, but not till then, 
might we dispense with Printing. As long as men 
lack Certainty, and repose upon Opinion, Life 
will be, as Shakspere has described it:— 

-“ A WALKING SHADOW ; A POOR PLAYER, 

“ That struts and frets his hour upon the 

STAGE, 

“ And then is heard no more :—a tale 
“ Told by an Idiot, full of sound and fury, 

“ Signifying nothing.” 



220 


THE ALPHA. 


[Faut II. 


CHAPTER IV. 

RANDOLPH. C IVI LI S. 

Civilis. I feel that I made so much progress in 
Knowledge yesternight, in my assumed character of 
Scrutator on the part of Society, that I may fairly 
drop the assumption, and become a listener and 
Scrutator in reality, and on my own account: for I 
find that my long habit of viewing all subjects 
separately, as though each subject had a beginning, a 
middle, and an end of its own, instead of being, as 
they are, parts of one great whole, has such a tendency 
to incapacitate me from seeing, immediately and at 
one view, the relation between apparently distinct 
facts, that this inquiry of yours into the value of 
the present Knowings and Doings of Society, will 
afford me the greatest help towards the mastery of 
the magnificent subject we are discussing. I will 
give you a proof of the necessity for the continuance 
of my discipleship. This afternoon, on my way 
from Westminster Hall, I met with Doctor Eitzelliot, 
who is a great Phrenologist; and, but for your 
having demonstrated to me on the previous evening, 
that Morality is a human contrivance, and not an 
ordination of God, I should have been vanquished 
by one of those very Philosophers whose pretensions 
to usefulness you yesterday disposed of in a single 
sentence. The doctor insisted that Man is a Moral 


Chap. IV.] 


THE ALPHA. 


221 


being, on the plea that he finds a provision made 
for his Morality in the human head. There is, he 
said, a large region appropriated to the moral feelings 
in the very summit and centre of the brain; a 
portion which is always largely developed in the 
heads of all highly moral and conscientious men ; 
but invariably small, or entirely wanting, in the skulls 
of the habitually vicious and immoral. I inquired 
whether the feelings produced the development, or 
the development the feelings. He replied, that 
where the development is large in infancy the de¬ 
velopment produced the feelings; but where the 
development is small in infancy the feelings, if im¬ 
planted by education, would produce the develop¬ 
ment. Then, said I, the Peelings are the original 
cause of the development. He admitted that they 
were; because bad developments usually trans¬ 
mitted worse to their posterity, whilst good ones 
generally transmitted better: therefore, said he, 
Morality, as the highest perfection of man, ought 
to be taught; and the more so, because in every 
head the provision for it is actually made, or room 
left for it, as the result of Education. Hence, he con¬ 
tended that Morality being an ordination of Heaven, 
could never be dispensed with. But if, said I, the 
development in what you call the moral region of the 
head, is producible by education, and is the result 
of the feelings, still the question remains: is the 
Education proper? are the feelings right? 
Admitting, therefore, that our Peelings and Senti- 


222 


THE ALPHA. 


[Paut II. 


ments are registered on the brain, and indiced on 
the countenance, is this any proof of the Feelings 
and the Sentiments being right? If you teach 
brutality, brutality will somewhere produce the record 
of the feeling: but is brutality to be encouraged 
because it produces its brutal bump on the human 
head? If following the Moral Law produce moral 
bumps, and it be thence inferred that Morality is an 
ordination of God; in like manner, if following 
brutal practices produce brutal bumps, it must also 
be inferred that brutality and vice are the ordinations 
of the Deity also. The Doctor was dumbfoundered, 
and admitted that the moral development of the brain 
is no proof of the Moral Nature of man, or of the 
abstract desirableness of Morality. 

Randolph. The Soul is the Prince of the palace 
it dwells in, and has, to some extent, the power to 
shape the tenement into what fashion it pleases. 
A Soul might inherit a noble cranium, or be the 
heir of a mean one; but if Selfishness misdirect 
the Sentiments of its inhabitant, knavery and licen¬ 
tiousness will convert it into a nursery of loath¬ 
someness and crime. Implant right sentiments in 
the infant mind; teach the child to seek happiness 
through Intelligence, and not through Sensuality,— 
and there will be no malformation in the cranium, nor 
on the countenance will there be any sinister expres¬ 
sion, any ugliness, or silliness, or deceit. This point 
settled, let us see what Dionysius has to say on the 
subject of the Belles Lettres. 


Chap. IV.] 


THE ALPHA. 


223 


Extract from the Papers of Dionysius. 

Didactic and Imaginative Literature. 

“ It is very generally observed,—and the fact is un¬ 
ceasingly urged on our attention by the opponents of 
popular Education,—that Knowledge fails to make 
men happier beings, or better citizens : in other words, 
that it does not render them more moral, more virtu¬ 
ous, or more religious ; neither better servants, more 
loyal subjects, nor happier men. Unfortunately, every 
day’s experience compels us to admit that there is but 
too much truth in this seemingly ungenerous objec¬ 
tion. Innumerable are the instances in which we find 
that the knowledge men have acquired at school or 
elsewhere, has served only to render them more 
thorough, because more accomplished and ingenious 
knaves. This has always been a most humiliating con¬ 
viction in the minds even of those who have laboured 
the most zealously in the cause of popular Education. 
These lovers of their species, having faith in the 
potency of Knowledge for Good : notwithstanding these 
numerous facts which lead to a contrary conclusion, 
have been wont to argue, that although every Good in 
this world has its attendant Evil, we must derive our 
conviction of the general benefit of Knowledge from 
the opposing fact, that the balance is found on the 
whole to be greatly in favour of Good. Thus en¬ 
couraged, these friends of the human race have ever 
advocated a more general diffusion of Knowledge as 


224 


THE ALPHA. 


IPart II. 


the only means of bringing about the political and 
moral regeneration of the world. 

“ On the other side, the opponents of progress have 
clung fast to the discouraging fact, which all are 
obliged to confess, that in numberless instances the 
spread of knowledge has had the very opposite effect 
predicated for it by its friends. 

“ That it makes good men better, and has a strong 
natural tendency to improve the bad, is the case of 
the Educationists. 

“ That it makes bad men worse, is the whole case 
of their opponents. 

“ Thus we have had to fight for advancement 
against adversaries to whom it was but natural (even 
as a matter of conscientious conviction) that they 
should range themselves against us. The necessary 
consequence has been, hitherto, that the spread of 
secular knowledge has been slow, and its influence, 
whether for Good or Evil, has been scarcely felt on 
that portion of the people who form the great bulk and 
base of our Social System. 

“ Here, then, a question suggests itself, and im¬ 
peratively demands an answer ; namely :—Is Know¬ 
ledge REALLY PRODUCTIVE OF EviL AS WELL AS 
Good ? Most assuredly not—if there be a God in the 
Universe ! I shall assume that there is a God, and 
thus incur the responsibility of proving the negative 
I have made to depend on the assumption. 

“ First of all we must bear in mind that there are 
influences at work throughout the entire framework 


Chap. IV.] 


THE ALPHA. 


225 


of Society, which constantly compel men in some cases, 
and offer very powerful inducements to them in others, 
to act contrary to their inborn convictions. These in¬ 
fluences are the result of erroneous Social institutions, 
all the complex workings of which we shall unravel 
when we come to consider the great subject of Civil 
Government and Laws. Under this head I shall 

PROVE THAT MANKIND HAVE THE POWER TO RID 

themselves of these influences. Let us, there¬ 
fore, for the present, suppose them gone. Let us 
suppose that a state of society exists in which a 
rational conviction in any man may be acted upon 
without coercion or constraint, 

“ In the first place I must prove, that, all per¬ 
nicious influences apart, a man must act con¬ 
formably WITH HIS CONVICTIONS : THAT HIS AIMS 
AND ACTS MUST BE THE REFLEX OF HIS KNOWLEDGE. 

“ To be cognizant of a true Tact, and to know with¬ 
out doubt that it is a true fact, is to possess Knowledge. 
For example :—two and two are equal to four. This 
is a true fact. No one doubts it: we all know that it 
is true. Hence this fact is positive Knowledge. Nor 
is there any pow T er which can alter the fact in our 
minds. We may be compelled, or, by an influence 
acting upon us, we may be induced to act as though 
we believed two and two to be equal to six. We can¬ 
not, however, unknow our knowledge; and, notwith¬ 
standing the influence, the true fact is registered in 
our Souls, unalterable and eternal. The same is of 
necessity true of every other fact which is indisputably 

Q 


226 


THE ALPHA. 


{Part II. 


our own. There are, however, some facts less easy of 
proof than the one just used to exemplify the assumed 
position. It is, of course, possible that another per¬ 
son may possess Knowledge, which, because I have 
not proved it to myself, is not my knowledge. Until 
it be my own by absolute conviction, it cannot in¬ 
fluence my acts with certainty. If I merely believe it, 
I might act as though I knew it. But, being a doubt¬ 
ful matter with me, my Fancy, or my Convenience 
might determine the act I have to perform in reference 
to it. But once it is a settled conviction with me I 
have no choice: I must act conformably with my con¬ 
viction. 

“ Suppose, for example, that I believe it possible to 
compound the Elixir Vitae, and thus arm myself 
against the possibility of physical death. If some 
sentiment or hope to this effect—no matter how 
attained—urge me to make the attempt; this sen¬ 
timent operating on my mind, is, for the time, a 
Conviction; I, consequently make the attempt, and 
might waste my life in the pursuit of this chimera. 
But, on the contrary, if I positively know, or through 
believable evidence, entertain a firm Conviction, that 
all which lives must die ; it is utterly impossible that 
1 can either attempt or hope to compound the Elixir 
Vitae; just because it is not possible to believe a thing, 
and, at the same time, not believe it; or to know a 
thing, and, at the same time, not know it. As long 
as I feel an uncertainty about the matter, either way, 
I may make the attempt, or neglect to make it: but 


Chap IV.] 


THE ALPHA. 


227 


once a settled conviction on the subject takes pos¬ 
session of my mind, I am compelled to obey that 
Conviction. 

I am, however, liable to be operated upon by an 
external influence ; thus : Another person believes or 
hopes that I have the power to compound this medi¬ 
cine, and allures me by a settled salary to devote a 
portion of my life to the attempt. Needing the pay, 
as a thing necessary to my comfort, or perhaps, to 
my existence, although I know the thing to be im¬ 
possible of accomplishment, I simulate a feeling con¬ 
trary to my conviction ; and undertake to devote my 
life, if need be, to the labour;—not because I hope 
for success, but for the sake of the pay. The pay, 
therefore, is the motive; my necessities are the influ¬ 
ence ; and my employer (influenced by a false con¬ 
viction) the immediate author of my act. You may 
say that the act on my part is immoral. Without 
admitting or denying this, I reply that I was tempted 
to the act by an influence which could have no exist¬ 
ence except in a false and foolish condition of Society. 
This influence tempts, or, perhaps, in conjunction 
with other influences, compels me to be a knave; 
and confirms my employer in his folly. Thus is 
Society deprived of two good men, because one has a 
superfluity of the necessaries of life (which—I mean 
his life—being still pleasant he would perpetuate); 
whilst the other is in danger of perishing for want of 
them. Clearly, then, the “ immorality” of my act 
must be put down to the account of Society, which, 
q 2 


228 


THE ALPHA. 


I Part II. 


by an irrational usage, is the remote cause of it; and, 
as I will subsequently prove, is the real author of all 
immorality. This illustration is a little out of place, 
but has been admitted here as an exemplification of 
what I mean by the pernicious influences which I will 
ultimately show you we have the power to remove. 
Apart from all such influences, it has already been 
proved by two simple examples, that a human being 
is compelled to act conformably with his convictions. 
If, therefore , the conviction he right , the resultant act 
is right; but, strictly speaking, not virtuous : if the 
conviction he erroneous , the resultant act will he erro¬ 
neous ; but, certainly, not criminal. 

“ Let us take, as another example, a case which is 
a little more complicated. The result will be similar 
of necessity. 

“ I know that a falling rock would crush me. If, 
therefore, I perceive a rock about to fall, it is not 
possible that I should place myself beneath it, at the 
same time believing that it would descend harmlessly 
on my head. But I desire to put a period to my life, 
and therefore I expose myself to the certain destruc¬ 
tion. Here, it might be said, I should be acting in 
opposition to the dictates of my conviction; namely, 
that knowing the rock would crush me, my absolute 
conviction of the fact, ought, according to my own 
principle, to compel me to avoid the danger. But 
that is not my position, because it is but one half of 
a complex proposition. My first conviction is that 
the rock will crush me. I am miserable, and want 


Chap. IV.] 


THE ALPHA. 


229 


to terminate my existence: hence I have a second 
conviction:—namely, that by terminating my exist¬ 
ence, I shall terminate my miseries. In exposing 
myself to the falling rock, I act conformably with 
both my convictions. The latter, or major conviction, 
governs the former, or minor one, and is the compel¬ 
ling cause of the suicidal act. 

“ Every man, then, acts, and is always obliged to 
act, in strict conformity with his convictions: and 
this fact establishes the truth of the four following 
propositions;— 

“First. That a human being, though he may 

ERR IN JUDGMENT, CANNOT COMMIT SlN. 

“ Secondly. That as far as a human being truly 

KNOWS, HE CANNOT ERR. 

“ Thirdly. That in order to produce right con¬ 
victions AMONGST MANKIND, THE DIFFUSION OF REAL 
KNOWLEDGE SHOULD BE UNIVERSAL. 

“ Fourthly. That henceforward all Influ¬ 
ences, whether Laws, Customs, or Creeds, which 
have a tendency to induce or compel men to act 

IN OPPOSITION TO THEIR CONVICTIONS, SHOULD BE 
REMOVED; AND SUCH ARRANGEMENTS SUBSTITUTED 
AS MIGHT BE FOUND MOST CONDUCIVE TO THE SPI¬ 
RITUAL Perfection and Happiness of the Human 
Race. 

“ This, then, settles the question as to the potency 
of all positive Knowledge for undivided Good. The 
Wrong and the Evil arise from External influ¬ 
ences, or from the Uncertainty as to the Know- 


230 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


ledge we possess being Knowledge, or from Erro¬ 
neous Convictions, which, for the time, have all the 
force and potency of Truth or positive Knowledge. 
Wherever there is a doubt about a fact, the resultant 
action will be either erroneous or right accordingly as 
the actor happens to lean to this or that opinion con¬ 
cerning its truth. The doubt will, therefore, always 
produce uncertainty, and leave the doubter free to 
act according to his fancy, or his momentary con¬ 
venience. 

“ This brings us to the questions,—How much of 

THE STORED-UP KNOWLEDGE OF THE WORLD IS KNOW¬ 
LEDGE P AND HOW MUCH OF THAT WHICH IS REALLY 

Knowledge has been proved to be so, to the 

ENTIRE CONVICTION OF THE INDIVIDUALS WHO POS¬ 
SESS IT? 

“ We shall presently see reasons for concluding 
that the amount of positive Knowledge possessed at 
present by any individual, when separated from the 
mass of Facts, Fancies, Opinions, Speculations, and 
Dicta, which pass current for Knowledge, is neces¬ 
sarily very small. 

“ The Literature of a nation or community is the 
ostensible repository of its Knowledge. Keeping 
before us, as we proceed, the convictions just arrived 
at; and testing the value of the Literature we are 
about to describe (rather than minutely to examine), 
by the only test which can discover its truth ; let us 
proceed to inquire what is about the amount, and 
what the real nature and value, of the Knowledge 


Chap. IV.] 


THE ALPHA. 


231 


from which so much Good is by some so erroneously 
expected; but which is, nevertheless, a sealed book 
to the great mass of the people of all communities. 

“ What we want is the power to proceed with 
certainty in all our strivings after Truth. And 
this is only to be had by the aid of a First Principle 
by which to test all Truth. The want of a First 
Principle has hitherto produced uncertainty in all 
mental investigations ; and the uncertainty, the con¬ 
fusion and non-conformity of opinion and action which 
have been, hitherto, so inextricably interwoven with 
all subjects. 

“ The nearest approach we have had to a First 
Principle, and which has, to some extent, supplied 
the want of one, is that Innate feeling of the 
truth of things, which strong, cultivated, and 
meditative minds have always had, and have always 
chiefly relied upon. This feeling is, in fact, a Sixth 
Sense, a Soul Sense , that Spiritual Instinct, which, 
for want of a more definite name, we might venture 
to denominate Sympathy. 

“ In all true Poets, and true Men, this sense is 
strong; strong, because it has been cultivated and 
encouraged : and from this source arises nearly all 
the unproved, and, therefore, Speculative Knowledge 
which we possess ; and which that portion of us 
which is taught at all, is taught to rely on and 
believe. Nor is this reliance, where more positive 
knowledge is unattainable, to be despised or discom¬ 
mended. On the contrary, it should have been 


232 


THE ALPHA. 


[Pakt II. 


always placed within the reach of all men. But, 
since only strong and cultivated Intellects can ori¬ 
ginate such Knowledge; or, are likely, under the 
present state of things, fully to appreciate it when 
presented to them; it follows, that the uncertainty 
connected with it in the general mind, is, and ever 
has been, a great bar to its potency for Good, even 
amongst that portion of mankind that have lived 
within the pale of its influence. No marvel, then, 
that its consequences are less satisfactory than the 
promoters of its extension have been wont to antici¬ 
pate. With these considerations and convictions 
clearly before us, let us proceed to determine for 
ourselves the true value of our Didactic and Imagina¬ 
tive Literature as an agent of Civilization, even when 
viewed apart from the social influences which are 
constantly acting on the public mind to render it 
inoperative for Good. 

“ To Men and Manners that portion of the Litera¬ 
ture we are about to consider, is chiefly devoted. 
It is, for ths most part, imaginative; and the pur¬ 
poses it generally professes to serve, are the encou¬ 
ragement of high and generous feelings, and the 
inculcation of Virtue, Morality, and Religion. The 
portrayal of what is called, but falsely called, Human 
Nature , is another of its aims. The whole of this, 
but the latter more especially is, however, only 
surface-work : a recognition of only half a truth ; but 
which is falsely, and ignorantly represented as the 
whole truth. Because an unwise, semi-barbarous 


Chap. IV.] 


-THE ALPHA. 


233 


Social System has drilled, tortured, and moulded 
men into selfish, mean, servile, ignorant, cruel, cre¬ 
dulous, bigoted, vicious, and rascally representatives 
of humanity ; because these, and fifty other infamous 
qualities, and intermediate shades of qualities, are 
thence found to be strangely blended with a Religion 
into which Man has been terrified: mingled also 
with the not-quite-extinguished feelings of his ne¬ 
glected better nature,—which feelings ooze out in 
the modified forms of Morality and the Virtues;— 
because Society forces human beings into such incon¬ 
sistent counterfeits of men, it has become a trade, 
and not an unprofitable one, to unweave, disentangle, 
anatomize, and explain these queer idiosyncrasies ; 
and thence, it has grown into a custom to call such 
descriptions, portrayals of human nature; and to 
laud the libellous exploit as a marvellous result of 
deep insight into that supposed mysterious compound 
of inconsistencies, yclept Humanity ! To draw these 
caricatures; and to utter, in the sacred name of 
Truth, these libels on Men and Deity, have been the 
dignified amusement of some writers, and the serious 
labour of others, ever since Literature has found a 
market amongst men. Innumerable are the fanciful 
tales, imaginary histories, and wonder-moving fables, 
which Genius has invented as vehicles for these 
apocryphal portrayals. They have been, for the most 
part, enriched with much refined sentiment; sa¬ 
voured with much wit, pleasantry, and satire; and 
garnished with an abundance of moral precepts, as 


234 


THE ALPHA. 


[Paet II. 


honourable to the writers, as they have been useful 
to the world. Such has been the staple of polite 
Literature amongst all modern nations: and such 
it was in all the most intellectual nations of an¬ 
tiquity. 

“ But the Generous feelings inculcated with so 
much zeal in this Literature, requires, as every one 
is aware, no great stretch of Generosity to keep pace 
with them. Of course, when Generosity is recom¬ 
mended, it is always with a due regard to the prior 
claims of an elder virtue. Be charitable; but let 
your charity begin, as well as end—at home. That 
which is meant by Generosity is, therefore, left en¬ 
tirely to the taste and worldly wisdom of the reader. 
If we are too unselfish, too kind, we shall violate the 
ordinances of that other virtue—which is necessarily 
a great favourite amongst us — Prudence itself! 
It is easy to see that a virtue with such limitations 
is no virtue at all; but a mere Sentiment, which, 
to feel, will cost us nothing. And, which of the 
Virtues, which of the Moralities, is not in the same 
predicament ?—a sentiment, rather than a rule of life 
which men under the present social arrangements 
can afford to reduce to practice? 

“The most valuable and truth-telling, or rather, 
truth-suggesting portion of our Belles Lettres is 
devoted to Poetry and the Drama : and, in these 
the “ divine inflatus” often speaks out, and thunders 
in our ears verities which in prose compositions, 
would be scarcely tolerated by ‘ ears polite/ 


Chap IV.] 


THE ALPHA. 


235 


“ In our Poetry there is much allusion to Nature 
and natural objects. Much there is, certainly, which 
is false; much that is purposeless; much that is 
fanciful; but also, much that is true,—at least in 
Peeling, and something that is true in fact. All 
true Poetry is eminently sympathetic. In the works 
of our elder Dramatists, but in those of Shakspere 
more especially, the Peeling inculcated is almost 
invariably truthful, sympathetic, noble. This branch 
of our Literature has, too, the advantage of ad¬ 
dressing itself through the media of the Stage and the 
Actor, to all the people capable of affording the luxury 
of a seat in the Theatre: and by these means the 
noblest sentiments have found their way to the un¬ 
derstandings, or the sympathies, even of the most 
illiterate; and from this circumstance, its influence, 
as a civilizing agent, has been more truly valuable 
than all the other branches of our imaginative litera¬ 
ture put together; notwithstanding that, in common 
with the others, it has fallen into the error of attri¬ 
buting to poor Human Nature, the Vices that belong 
to a Social System which is Selfish to its very core. 

Yet, beyond proving to us the propriety of being 
as virtuous as the circumstances we chance to be 
placed in will admit of; and beyond that still holier 
influence which it possesses of awakening in our 
minds that sympathy with latent Truth,—a power 
which so pre-eminently distinguishes the teach¬ 
ings of Poetry from all other modes of instruction 
within the reach of humanity aforetime;—beyond 


236 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


these very uncertain, because indistinct, and merely 
suggestive teachings, what Positive Knowledge 
have we derived even from Poetry and the Drama ? 
Without a Pirst Principle to guide us to the snatches 
of Truth which, by the help of one, we find scat¬ 
tered throughout these inspired compositions, what 
are men really the wiser for the indistinctly-taught 
verities shadowed forth in these performances? 
Were we to answer ‘ Nothing !’ I fear that it would be 
difficult to convict us of misrepresentation or mistake. 

“As in the case of the Tale and Romance writers, 
and the professed Moralists, we are indebted to the 
Poets and Dramatists for but a small modicum of 
real Knowledge. All the remainder, at the very best, 
and taking no account of their misrepresentations of 
the true nature of humanity, amounts to little more 
than Sentiment, which we might carry about with 
us by way of ornament; but which, we should be 
set down as romantic madmen, were we so imbecile 
as to use; for the world knows no surer proof of 
lunacy than that of giving way to the noblest feelings 
of our nature, and acting up to the impulses of an 
unselfish Generosity. 

“ But as long as truth is confined to Sentiment, 
few men will be any wiser for the knowledge. Even 
those who seek Truth the most zealously cannot be 
satisfied with a Poet’s dicta; so that small indeed 
is the value of the verities which are embodied even 
in the Poet’s far-seeing, yet random inspirations. 

“ We have taken the highest view of the best 


Chap. IV.] 


THE ALPHA. 


237 


portion of the Belles Lettres: we might save our¬ 
selves. the labour of examining the worst. Amuse¬ 
ment is the first object the books in this division 
are intended to serve,—amusement, often of a very 
equivocal description ; and Instruction—problematical 
as it generally is in the whole of them,—the very 
last. Therefore, to the ‘ unwashed’ artificers and 
labourers who have never learned to read, great as 
is their loss, it is not all loss. It would be wonderful 
if it were so. It would be wonderful indeed, if, of 
Man, the most peculiar and highly endued work 
of the Deity of which we have any knowledge, every 
individual man had not within himself the germ of 
his own perfection ; the all-sufficient means of that 
elevation for which the entire Species is so pre¬ 
eminently fitted, and so obviously designed. Strange 
it would be, if anything but the evil exercise of 
Power on the one hand, and voluntary blindness on 
the other, could render one man’s cogitations ne¬ 
cessary to another man’s temporal and eternal welfare. 
Strange it would be if Books were the only means 
of progress towards that errorless perfection which 
is Heaven ; and stranger still, if by an ordination of 
the Deity, Man must humbly sue his fellow-man 
for permission to peruse them. Much, therefore, as 
the illiterate at present lose in not being acquainted 
with Books—the passport hitherto to a free intercourse 
of mind with mind—it is not all loss; nor is the loss 
irreparable for the future. The proof, and the only 
proof of all Truth is in the Human Soul. The true 


238 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


nature of the true Man is there. Let the ‘ un¬ 
washed/ untaught, degraded, toiling Millions read 
this Deity-indited volume; con over and study this 
true, authorized, unmistakable Revelation from God 
to Man: a Revelation which is the same to-day, 
to-morrow, and for ever : the same to the Indian 
Savage as to the civilized Celt: the same in every 
climate, and in every tongue. No man can hide 
it from his fellow; none can misinterpret it. Let 
the degraded millions everywhere but know them- 
selves , and from this elevation look around them, and 
read that other Revelation external to themselves, the 
pictorial volume of Nature, and thus advance them¬ 
selves to a closer communion with the God of Nature. 
Let them do this; and thenceforth slavery and 
oppression cease of necessity, and the world is 
changed/’ 

Civilis. The positions argued in this Essay are of 
immense importance. It is clear that the Knowledge 
contained in our Didactic and Imaginative Literature 
is insignificant in amount, and very questionable in 
its character. Its great defect is indistinctness; for 
opinions, however rational, are only opinions, not 
settled facts; and are thence uncertain guides to 
human action. 

Randolph. It is therefore a misnomer to call it 
Knowledge, even that part of it which is the most 
rational; because, in effect, nothing is true which is 
not proved to be true: therefore, whatever lacks the 


Chap. IV.] 


THE ALPHA. 


239 


proof, lacks the distinguishing quality of know¬ 
ledge,—its controlling influence for unadulterated 
Good. 

Civilis. Most true, my dear Randolph; most 
true! This point has been fully demonstrated in the 
Essay. Wrong Convictions, which are equally omni¬ 
potent with Truth itself, inevitably lead to Evil; 
whilst Right Convictions invariably result in Good. 
But is there not something anomalous, not to say 
unjust, in this ?—I mean, that wrong convictions 
should be as imperious in their influence as right 
convictions ?—Error as omnipotent as Truth ? 

Randolph. This is certainly the fact: but it is 
neither anomalous nor unjust; as a moment’s reflec¬ 
tion will convince you. In the nature of things, it is 
impossible that a Conviction, whether wrong or right, 
should not have equal potency over the mind that 
entertains it. The fact would be anomalous if oppo¬ 
site convictions produced similar results. But one 
series produces Evil, which our true nature shrinks 
from : the other Good, for which our nature yearns. 
You are forgetting that Error is not Sin ; and that 
the Inconveniences produced by Error are not Punish¬ 
ments. You are forgetting also that Inconvenience, 
and Suffering, and Sorrow are necessary to our appre¬ 
ciation of Happiness ; and that, but for this necessity, 
the Deity might have made us instantly cognizant of 
all knowledge—perfect Intelligences,—without linking 
us to life and matter, or placing us amongst material 
things, at all. 


240 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


Civilis. I stand corrected. I had forgotten these. 
How powerful is habit in me! And no wonder, 
when all my previous Convictions are erroneous; 
imbibed, too, as they have been, through an erroneous 
education, begun in infancy and continued until now ! 
For, hitherto, all Literature, all education, has been 

erroneous.-To think of all this Error.; of all the 

falsehood I have entertained as truth, is most be¬ 
wildering.-What a complicated web of contradic¬ 

tions has grown out of admitting Sin and its Punish¬ 
ments ; Paith, and its Rewards ! And how consistent 
and simply beautiful that System, the Alpha and 

Omega of which is Knowledge!-They are but 

momentary glances I get of it:—I mean of the Truth 

in its entiety.-Splendid visions, too felicitous to 

last.—If I could unknow my errors all at once, and 
at a single view look steadfastly at the whole truth, I 

doubt if I could survive the happiness.-Who shall 

suddenly look on the glory of the Omnipotent, and 
live! And what is Deific glory but all-effulgent 
Truth!—that one Truth which is the essence and 
concentrated centre of all other Truth! I fear, 
Randolph, you will think me fitter to be an enthusiast 
of a new Faith, than a disciple of a new Philosophy 
so simple as yours, yet so sublime in its simplicity. 
The indefinite is sublime from the circumstance of 
its indefiniteness: but, to a mind accustomed to seek 
truth amongst entanglements and contradictions, the 
definite becomes sublime from its scarcely-to-be- 
grasped definiteness and simplicity. 







Chap. IV.] 


THE ALPHA. 


241 


Randolph. True, Civilis : whatever seems complex 
in the operations of a Principle is the complexity 
with which it comes into antagonism. Through the 
simple and the consistent, we are made aware of the 
involved and the contradictory: and it is easy to 
mistake the Light which enables us to distinguish 
confusion, for the Cause of the confusion. But we 
are forgetting the Essay. Are all its positions 
proved? It assumes that Education as it exists at 
present, is nearly as potent for Evil as for Good. It 
next examines the Imaginative and Didactic Litera¬ 
ture which forms a part of this education, and decides 
that the cause of its failure is the indistinctness, or 
absolute falsehood of the facts and opinions it dis¬ 
penses for Knowledge. The great majority of these 
facts and opinions the Essay assumes to be false; 
and none more false, or more pernicious than those 
which represent Crime, Immorality, and the Evil 
Passions, to be the genuine offspring of Human 
Nature. Our business is to criticise the reasonings 
of Dionysius, and determine for ourselves whether the 
positions he advances be false or true. You have 
just admitted the conclusiveness of his arguments 
touching the inutility of this Literature as a guide to 
human conduct; and this, chiefly on the ground that 
its facts and assumptions are false; or that they lack 
the proof w T hich is necessary to give them the force 
and efficacy of positive knowledge. Are you satisfied 
—for this is a highly important part of the inquiry— 
that the Crimes, Passions, Contradictions, and Idio- 


K 


242 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


syncrasies which at present characterise men’s actions, 
are not what this Literature represents them to be; 
but the products of a false and artificial Social System 
misnamed Civilization ? Remember, Civilis, that, at 
present, I neither affirm nor deny this proposition. 
I put the question, because it is highly important 
that we should come to a right conclusion with respect 
to it. 

Civilis. I confess, Randolph, that, looking to facts 
of every-day occurrence, I am not prepared to reply 
to your question in the affirmative. I will cite a case 
which seems to me to militate against the proposition, 
and which will put the question fairly before us. A 
boy, ten years old, wilfully drowns his little brother 
(an infant twenty months old), because, as the delin¬ 
quent owns, the child annoyed him by crying. Is 
this fratricidal act to be fathered on Society; or to 
be laid to the account of the innate wickedness of 
Human Nature? A mother destroys her infant; but 
many motives might be imagined, all of which may 
be, and I believe are, chargeable on Society. But 
how is the motive of this boy traceable to Society 
in such a way as to exonerate the boy, and relieve 
Human Nature from the odium which, if the act 
be natural, fairly, and undeniably, attaches to it ? 

Randolph. The case you have cited is such an one 
as I expected from your professional sagacity. Now, 
what is Human Nature? Certainly, not Brute 
Nature. There is, perhaps, some ambiguity in the re¬ 
marks of Dionysius; but there is Truth in his 


Chap. IV.] 


THE ALPHA. 


243 


conclusion. The animus of his argument is this:— 
Society, by its present social arrangements, obliges 
even the more thoughtful and educated of its members 
to act from selfish motives; in other words, to make 
the principle of animal life its first consideration in all 
matters, if not its chief guide; but that, by with¬ 
holding the best education at its disposal from the 
great mass of mankind, it leaves them in the condition 
of mere animals ; and in addition to this, subjects 
them to the want of even physical necessities; 
enjoins selfishness, under the name of Prudence, as 
their principle of action; prescribes impossible Morality 
as their guide; and then disingenuously denominates 
the anomalous results of their conduct,—the genuine 
product of Humanity: when it must be evident that 
the distinguishing characteristic of Human Nature— 
Mentality, has been forcibly annihilated, instead of 
having been generously and carefully evolved. Even 
if you suppose the pressure of want, and the influence 
of the selfish principle away; to do right in defiance of 
such mental blindness is sufficiently difficult, if not 
impossible : but, under the accumulated pressure of all 
these injurious influences, the wonder is, not that there 
is much crime and immorality amongst us, but that 
the world is not one vast theatre of horrors. And, 
that this, Civilis, is not the case affords the amplest evi¬ 
dence of the Angel-like perfection to which Humanity 
will grow under the dispensation and guidance of 
the Mental Principle . 1 

Civilis. I think your interpretation of the strictures 
r2 


244 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


urged by Dionysius against Society for its false esti¬ 
mate of Human Nature, is most lucid and convincing ; 
and I admit their justness without the slightest 
hesitation: but your explanation does not meet the 
difficulty,—the boy’s motive, and his knowledge of 
the heinousness of the supposed offence. If under 
the circumstances here glanced at such an act could be 
committed, it is clear that the dominance of the Mental 
Principle would be no guarantee against it; and that 
the highest attainable intelligence admits, of the com¬ 
mission of the most heinous crimes : in other words, 
that it does not annihilate Brute Passion ; although,— 
and this I cheerfully grant you—it materially lessens 
the chances of its criminal activity. Even this boy, 
however brutal might neglect have rendered his nature, 
must have had a mental conviction that his act was 
wrong. His avowed motive was to rid himself of a 
little, a very little, annoyance. The question, then, 
resolves itself into this:—Had the boy, (a thing 
scarcely possible at ten years old,) been fully cognizant 
of all the facts which prove his Soul’s relationship to 
his Creator, would this knowledge necessarily have 
prevented his rash act? And is Human Nature, or 
is Society to be held responsible ? 

Randolph. Against sudden Passion—and you 
might have imagined causes of sudden passion in an 
adult more powerful than mere irritation of temper in 
a child—against sudden Passion, I do not think that 
Right Convictions are in all cases safeguards against 
wrong-doing. It is probable that all general Laws are 


Chap. IV.] 


THE ALPHA. 


245 


subject to accident; and that Human Nature neces¬ 
sarily linked as it is to Brute Nature, must always be 
liable to error. In the case supposed, if the act were 
the result of sudden passion, it must be placed to the 
account of Brute Nature ; but if it were a deliberate 
act, it was the result of an erroneous conviction. 
Society is responsible for those acts only which are 
committed through the ignorance which Social arrange - 
ments foster, or under the influence of the motives 
they induce. You must admit, Civilis, that the 
number of those crimes which are committed in pure 
despite of right convictions are very insignificant in 
their amount, and always must be, compared with 
those which are clearly traceable to the evil influences 
of Society. You must admit also that, whilst a right 
conviction may not in all cases hinder the wrong act, 
Brute Nature, and not Human Nature, is the 
influencing cause. 

Civilis. All this I most willingly admit. But, 
admitting, as I do, that in all eases where a Man has a 
right conviction, he must act conformably with that 
conviction whenever the act be a deliberate one, and 
where his reason is appealed to as to the propriety of 
its performance; it is still manifest that Brute 
Passion might hurry him into criminality whatever be 
the amount of his Intelligence : and that even acts of 
homicide are within the range of the wrong-doings 
which even an educated Man, in his human condition, 
is liable to commit. 

Randolph. You are overlooking one very im- 


246 


THE ALPHA. 


[Past II. 


portant consideration, Civilis. In obedience to the 
Laws impressed by the Deity on all his works, all 
things reproduce their like. It is certain that Men's 
sentiments influence their own organization during 
life; and that intelligent parents usually, if not 
invariably, transmit an organization to their posterity 
more favourable to high mentality and intelligence 
than their own. If this be true; and if Mentality 
be fostered and encouraged by Social arrangements, 
instead of mere animalism, as is the case at present, 
it is impossible to prescribe limits even to organic 
improvement; so that the Animal passions which 
seem to stand in the way of human perfectibility, 
will probably be so much modified in their activity 
by *a more perfect organization, that they will be 
entirely under the control of the human will; and 
the objection you have raised against the possibility— 
not of Human progress, but of—Human perfectibility, 
(for it amounts to no more than this), may be capable 
of entire removal. We are arguing an abstract 
question; and the possibility of arriving at absolute 
perfection in our sublunary state is not the real point 
at issue; but the possibility of human progression 
towards a state of comparative perfection: so, 
that practically, if not absolutely, your objection 
amounts to nothing. 

Civilis. I cannot deny the validity of your argu¬ 
ment, nor the conclusion to which it leads. I have, 
however, one more objection : and, I confess, it is an 
objection which I foresee others will make, and not 


Cuap. IV.] 


THE ALPHA. 


247 


one to which I attach any considerable importance 
myself. Do you not think that Ignorance, with the 
fear of future Punishment now so generally supposed 
to attach to Crime, is a more powerful guarantee for 
Innocence amongst the great mass of mankind, than 
will be the conviction sought to be established amongst 
them by your Principle, that, in the abstract, there 
is neither Sin, nor Punishment with respect to it in 
a future state ? 

Randolph. The fear of Punishment, or the hope of 
reward, is no guarantee for Innocence, Civilis, what¬ 
ever either of them might be as a restraint against 
evil-doing. Criminality consists in the Intention; 
and the mere abstainment therefrom, through motives 
of hope or fear, is not Innocence; but Prudence ;—that 
quasi Virtue, which abstracts nearly all virtue from 
the more genuine .Virtues; and does its best to 
convert Justice, Magnanimity, and Benevolence, into 
something as mean and selfish as itself. Innocence 
is not your meaning; but this prudent abstinence 
from evil-doing. But, taking your question in the 
sense you intended it, you are supposing an im¬ 
possible case: namely, the present restraints re¬ 
moved, and the present motives and incentives to 
evil-doing remaining. But, Civilis, before the Mental, 
can take the place of the Selfish Principle, men must 
be universally intelligent: and Intelligence, in the 
absence of the present premium-inducing motives 
to vice, will be, of necessity, an unspeakably stronger 
guarantee to Right conduct than the distant fear of 


248 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


an after-retribution (even were Hell a certainty), with 
the present incentives to vice egging on feeble 
Ignorance to the commission of Crime, and whispering 
that a death-bed repentance is sufficient to avert 
the Retribution. 

Civilis. I am answered. 

Randolph. We have proved, then, that the Litera¬ 
ture we have been examining is, for the most part, 
false in its aim; and, even when its aim is right, 
that in the absence of a Principle by which to test 
its truth, its very inspirations—those flashes of Truth 
which proceed from the genuine promptings of the 
highest intellects—are in the nature of guesses only; 
and, because of their uncertainty, impotent and 
valueless as guides to human happiness. To-morrow 
we will take another branch of our so-much-lauded 
Literature, the which, on examination, will prove 
equally worthless until read by the Light that is 
able to convert it into Knowledge. It may, how¬ 
ever, seem strange to say that the very Light which so 
converts it, will show it to be needless; and thence, 
as valueless as the rest. This is the Enigma to be 
solved to-morrow. 

The air is sultry and oppressive. There is a 
tempest gathering. You will be at home before it 
reaches us. Good night l 


Chap. V.] 


THE ALPHA. 


249 


CHAPTER V. 

RANDOLPH. CIVILIS. 

Civilis. The storm last night was awful. A house 
near mine was struck by the lightning, and the 
father of a poor family was killed in an instant. The 
circumstance had so great an effect on my mind that 
I scarcely slept during the night. I now seek to 
solve all difficulties by the help of our Truth-eluci¬ 
dating Principle; and I lay considering how the 
sad occurrence of the evening could be reconciled 
with the Beneficence of the Deity, by the operations 
of whose Laws this melancholy catastrophe was occa¬ 
sioned. Does a beneficent God, said I, thus Will 
the sudden destruction of his creatures, and plunge 
a whole family into misery ? and, if so, why ? He 
gives life to his creatures, and implants a love of life 
in all that lives : and, although to intellectual Man, 
death is not an Evil, but a necessary Good, does it 
not seem contradictory that the Giver of life should 
prematurely destroy it? I remembered that the 
storm was necessary to produce an equilibrium in 
the atmosphere, without which, to say nothing of 
trillions of the lower animals, millions of human 
beings would prematurely die; nay, perhaps the 
whole human population be swept away; or, pos- 


250 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


sibly, that an universal stagnation would take place, 
and all living things perish on the face of the earth. 
And, if so, how beneficent are these awful visitations ! 
But, still, the man is dead; and his children are 
orphans; and his wife a widow; and starvation 
stares them in the face; or a workhouse, more abhor¬ 
rent still, is the fate awaiting them. I remembered 
that starvation or the workhouse to the surviving 
family is man’s own work: and that, hence, this 
misery is not purposed by the Deity whose lightnings 
struck the husband and the father dead. The Evil, 
then, to be accounted for, and reconciled with Divine 
beneficence is only the taking of a single life. And, 
to him thus cut off in the prime and pride of his 
animal existence, what matters it whether now, or in 
decrepit age ? His fellows will protect his widow, 
and give his orphans bread, and instruct them in all 
knowledge. Alas ! they will not; but they ought. 
He who is dead had lived long enough for all the 
purposes for which life was given him. Did he 
know those purposes ? Probably not: no more 
might he have known them in his age. Why did he 
not know them ? He chose the beast’s portion, life, 
and the pleasures of living, but neglected to know 
himself; to know God; to know Good from Evil, 
Right from Wrong; to know the purposes of his 
existence, and to fulfil them. Within himself were 
all the means : he needed no external aid : had he 
sought he would have found: had he knocked, it 
would have been opened unto him. Clearly, then, 


Chap. V.] 


THE ALPHA. 


251 


if he were not prepared to part with life the fault 
was his : but, if he were prepared, as, following the 
promptings of his spirit, he might haVe been, then 
was the sudden translation a sudden glory : and the 
Tempest was a wide-spread Good, unmixed with 
evil. 

Randolph. I heard this morning of the accident, 
Civilis, and have seen the desolation; but a good 
Samaritan had been there before me, — a circum¬ 
stance your modesty omitted. And it is well. But, 
Civilis, the fruits of the newly-awakened Truth within 
you is a fitter subject for congratulation. You will 
find ample need of your felicitous mode of applying 
our Principle to the solution of these apparent con¬ 
tradictions ;—contradictions which Ignorance every¬ 
where takes hold of to fasten the authorship of Evil 
on Him who is the author of nothing that is not 
Good. Prejudice is rampant because Selfishness 
bears undivided sway amongst us: and few there 
are who will not cling to falsehood rather than jeo¬ 
pardize their rent-roll, their profits, or their pay. 
You will find, that, of all men, the Clergy have the 
most sensitive dread of Truth. They are thoughtful 
men, and, for the most part, good logicians : none 
know better than they the value to an opponent of 
an honest admission. Only a few days since I met 
with a singular instance of this most sensitive dread 
of Truth in a Clergyman. I had said something 
which awakened his suspicions as to my orthodoxy. 
It was curious to see the snail betake himself to 


252 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


his shell the instant his horns were touched. When 
safely ensconced in his slime-made citadel, I pro¬ 
pounded a question which I had purposely led 
him to believe was but the precursor of others. 
Are you satisfied, said I, that one and one are equal to 
two ? we were not alone, and he would not make the 
admission: neither taunts, nor entreaties, nor the 
varying of the question, nor the stripping it of the 
dress of language by reducing the proposition to an 
idea which all minds must entertain from sheer 
necessity, though they had no notion of sounds or 
signs by which to express it;—none of these could 
induce him to hazard an advantage by recording his 
admission. It had been easier to tempt a mad dog to 
swim across the Ribble or the Thames. Here is a 
veritable fact which seems to militate against the 
action-compelling influence of Truth. We are in 
search of an antagonistic influence. A very brief 
statement of a true fact will explain the contradiction 
alluded to, and give this antagonistic influence a 
name. Mark the explanation, Civilis.—This truth- 
abhorring Clergyman had just received an appointment 
which quadrupled his income, and multiplied his love 
of the selfish Principle by four ! To all such men, 
Civilis, a truism is, of all the isms under which men 
range themselves, the ism which is most obnoxious. 
This brings me to the Essay I am to read to you this 
evening, where you will see the baneful effects of the 
selfish principle exhibited on a large scale. We are 
subsequently, you know, to trace it to its source, and 


Chap. V.] 


THE ALPHA. 


253 


see how Literature, and Laws, and Morals, and Mystic 
Religion grew out of it; and how these, the refined 
Children of a barbarous Sire, partake of the nature of 
their parent, and are compelled to allegiance whilst 
their nonage lasts :—a nonage now, happily, near its 
end. Dionysius, in the present Essay, examines 
History with the same object in view as that which led 
him to the examination of the several branches of the 
Literature already disposed of. 

Extract from the Papers of Dionysius. 

History and Biography. 

“ Some one has said that ‘ History is Philosophy 
teaching by examples/ How far this definition is a 
true one will be seen as we proceed, 

“ A historical fact is Knowledge as far as it goes : 
Knowledge in a certain sense : it is a human record of 
a human act. There is always some uncertainty as 
to the truthfulness of the record. But, supposing it 
to be an exact epitome of the historized event,—is 
the record valuable? This must depend on cir¬ 
cumstances. As long as it be necessary to store up 
facts with the view to the discovery of Principles, or 
guides to human conduct, there is value in the records. 
If not the object, this has been more or less the effect 
of our records hitherto. But it can scarcely be said 
that any fixed principles have yet been educed from our 
laborious gatherings. As far as the principles of 
Religion and Morality have been agreed upon, these 
principles have been the tests of the good or bad quality 


254 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


of the facts recorded : and thus, a kind of pseudo-phi¬ 
losophy, uncertain in its nature, is deducible from our 
recorded facts. This Philosophy, such as it is, is 
Knowledge, such as it is; that is, it is false or true in 
its character and aim, just as the tests which are used 
to determine these circumstances happen to be false or 
true. These tests, however, have no certain standard 
in any given locality of the world; but vary as opinions 
vary concerning the true nature of Morality and Re¬ 
ligion. The Philosophy extractable from History is, con¬ 
sequently, very equivocal in its character: but, being 
the best attainable under the circumstances, we will 
not quarrel with the definition which forms the start¬ 
ing-point in this inquiry. But, the fact is, whatever 
philosophy there may be in the examples, there is no 
real value in the record. Natural facts are necessarily 
right, because they are the results of errorless Intelli¬ 
gence. But the Knowledge of the facts is less 
important than the Knowledge of the Laws or Prin¬ 
ciples which govern and produce them. We need 
not, for instance, make record of a shower of rain. 
But our Knowledge of the Principles on which this 
fact, and all similar facts, depend, should be recorded, 
lest the knowdedge should be lost. Were it not for 
the Principle of gravitation, we should not have the 
showers, nor their beneficent results. Such Know¬ 
ledge is all-important. We are thereby made cogni¬ 
zant of second causes, leading us to the Pirst Cause, 
God. But with Human facts, that is, facts caused 
by Human agency, the case is different. These facts 


Chap. V.] 


THE ALPHA. 


255 


do not proceed from errorless Intelligence, but from 
the fallible operations of the Human Will; and are 
therefore Right or Wrong just as they are rational or 
the reverse. To know what, under any circumstances, 
we ought to do, is Knowledge; is, indeed, Philosophy; 
positive in its character, and unvarying in its opera¬ 
tions. The act done, is an event that cannot be 
recalled. If Right, its results are right. If right 
because dictated by an unerring principle, all such 
acts will be always right, and the record of them will 
be needless. Nor will the record be of any real 
value if the act be wrong. Test it by the Principle, 
and prove it to be wrong, needless and valueless is 
the record still. Thus, then, Philosophy is a thing 
apart from History, which is (or should be), a true 
record of occurrences, whether the occurrences be 
Right or Wrong: and, having the Philosophy, we 
might dispense with the History, and thus save our¬ 
selves much profitless drudgery; because the Know¬ 
ledge which shows us whether an act already done be 
Wrong or Right, shows us, at the same time, what it 
is Right or Wrong to do. 

“ What an immense labour it were to acquaint 
ourselves with all the (humanly speaking) interesting 
facts of the world’s history! If last year’s facts are 
interesting or useful to us, so are those which occurred 
before the Flood. But, as has just been shown, 
however interesting historical facts may be to us, they 
are of no real value beyond the gratification they 
afford to our sympathies with the Past. We learn 


256 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


that King so and so did so and so. Some will assert 
that his doings were unwise and tyrannical. Others 
from the same facts will arrive at the very opposite 
conclusion. And this must always be the case as 
long as what is called Religion, and Public and 
Private Morals, are the tests by which we come to a 
decision; because these tests, modified as they are by 
contending interests and conflicting opinions, differ 
so widely in their appreciation of Right and Wrong, 
that Right and Wrong are everywhere confounded. 
Who, then, shall decide between them? And yet 
we must decide before we can extract Philosophy 
from the example. 

“ The peculiar excellence of a first Principle con¬ 
sists in this : it enables us to dispense altogether with 
precedents and examples. If, then, our Principle be 
the true one, we might spare ourselves the labour of 
reading History for the benefit of its examples; 
however we might do so for our amusement, or to 
gratify our sympathies with the Past. 

“ In what does the history of all the nations of the 
earth consist ? In one long struggle between a little 
spurious knowledge, and a huge mass of ignorance. 
This little knowledge gave Power to its possessors; 
and the want of it, amongst the great mass of the 
people, produced servile obedience to the authority of 
the few who wielded the power and jealously con¬ 
served the Knowledge. In Egypt, how much this 
Power did, not for its happiness, but for its transitory 
and unreal grandeur, and its fame 1 For ages it went 


Chai\ V.] 


THE ALPHA. 


257 


on rearing stupendous records of its selfishness and 
folly. Yes, they are these: but they are something 
more. The Pyramids, these old-world structures, are 
an expression of the God in man: they are the stu¬ 
pendous utterances of ancient Egypt’s yearning after 
immortality. But, at length, the dark tide of Igno¬ 
rance (blindly and purposely encouraged amongst the 
‘ masses’) broke down the mystic barriers which for 
centuries had restrained it: its desolating flood spread 
ruin everywhere; and Egypt’s civilization passed away. 
'Barbarians skulked,beast-like amongst its palaces,’and 
its Temples became the dwelling-places of loathsome¬ 
ness, and vice, and abject misery. Here was an early 
trial of false knowledge and exclusiveness : it failed. 

"The civilization of Babylonia, Assyria, Media, 
Tyrus, and the other great Kingdoms of antiquity, 
being of the same selfish and exclusive character, led 
to the same result. A little knowledge in the be¬ 
ginning did wonders : but the Ignorance cherished 
by exclusiveness, soon became too potent for its 
taskmasters. It arose in its Savage might : the 
monuments of human pride lay prostrate in the 
dust; and much of the Knowledge that reared these 
splendours lay buried beneath the ruins, and was lost 
to the world for ever. 

“ Greece ultimately emerged from barbarism, and 
a civilization, the best and most perfect the world 
had seen (save that of the Jews who had arrived at 
the conception of One God) took root amongst its 
rocks and islands. The Sciences made considerable 
s 


258 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


progress; and the Arts arrived at a pitch of greatness 
and perfection which leaves no hope of rivalry. As 
a reason for all this, Knowledge was less exclusive : 
there was a oneness of Spirit animating the nation. 
Its wisest men imparted their highest wisdom to the 
populace from the porticoes of their beautiful temples. 
These Temples were public possessions,—that is, 
they were raised in honour of the false Deities the 
whole nation served : their Statues, in like manner, 
were public property: their public men lived for the 
people : there was some approach to a Commonwealth 
of Mind. The highest aim of this nation was 
public and private Virtue; and it did its best to 
inculcate the practice of it amongst all its citizens. 

“ But the attainment of Knowledge as the ultimate 
purpose of existence; the distribution of Knowledge 
to all, as the common birthright of all; and the 
recognition of the fact that the possession of a First 
Principle includes all Goodness; supersedes the 
Virtues ; contains all the Happiness the mind can 
make its own : and that to have it is to have every¬ 
thing,—this Knowledge was not theirs; and their 
baseless fabric fell. Their Religion was Idolatry: 
and yet their idolatry was in the right direction. 
It was the embodiment of what they knew, or thought 
they knew, of Nature;—the materialized ideal of 
Power and Beauty. Their Arts, which formed 
the symbolic portion of their religion grew up 
into an imaginary but false perfection. And 
now, nothing remains of their shadowy creed but 


Chap. V.] 


THE ALPHA. 


259 


the beautiful symbols which imparted to the shadow 
the semblance of reality. They reposed on Error. 
Evil grew out of Error. They did not perceive 
the hollowness of their virtues, although they failed 
to find happiness the result of them. Listlessness 
succeeded: ignorance increased: ruin followed: 
and the civilization of polished Greece, like that of 
the earlier nations, passed away. 

“ Rome, the rough imitator of Greece, relied on 
its barbaric Virtue, its martial prowess, and its 
wealth and conquests. It fought its ruthless way 
to the empire of half the world. Power, which 
coexists with Abjectness, was Rome’s god. This 
Nation grew great by its activity; then, ‘ sheathing 
its sword for lack of argument,’ fell into luxuriousness 
and lascivious ease; fed on its former victories; 
gloated on its spoils; grew apoplectic, and expired. 
Peace to its ashes; for it sowed the seeds of a purer 
civilization than its own ! 

“ Christianity now, with its angel-teachings, 
descended on the earth. Its pure Spirit still dwells 
amongst us; but men are loath to trust to its be¬ 
nignant guidance. And, why ? Because we are 
ignorant: because the old leaven of exclusiveness, 
and the love of power, will not let the religion of 
Love take root: and because the new creed has been 
interwoven with the myths and mysticisms of the old. 
Modern History, therefore, presents all the features 
of that of antiquity; and its Civilization contains the 
same elements of decay. 

s 2 


260 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


“ Let us cast our eyes about us, and what do we 
see ? The first strongly-marked characteristic of 
modern Civilization is the Ignorance, deep and dark, 
of the masses, accompanied by its animalism, its 
misery, its almost hopeless degradation, and its crime. 
As long as you can set this mass of ignorance to 
work, and pay it a trifle for its labour, it is a docile 
sort of monster enough. It obeys the rein; moves 
systematically; and this Caliban is said to be 
civilized. Prospero, who reigns, and who has some 
Knowledge, much cabalistic lore, dabbles in the dark 
arts, and holds communion with spirit-ministers of 
his power, says ‘ go/ and it goeth ; ‘ Come/ and it 
cometh ; ‘ Do this/ and it doeth it. It sometimes, 
however, grows impatient of restraint; and beards 
the Prospero it owns for king after this fashion :— 

4 This island’s mine. 

‘ When thou earnest first, 

‘ Thou strok’dst me, and made much of me, 
would’st give me 

‘ Water with berries in’t, and teach me how 

* To NAME THE BIGGER LIGHT, AND HOW THE LESS 

‘ That burn by day and night : and then I 
lov’d thee, 

‘ And show’d thee all the qualities of the isle; 

‘ The fresh springs, brine-pits, barren place, 
and fertile: 

‘ Cursed be I that did so ! 

‘That first was my own king.’ 


Chap. V.] 


THE ALPHA. 


261 


“ And History tells of greater lengths to which 
this Caliban has gone beyond this blunt, Jack-Cade 
remonstrance. It has been known to throw its 

EYE AMIDST ITS MISERIES, ON SOME HALF-WITTED 
TRINCULO TO CHOOSE FOR KING, IN PLACE OF PrOS- 

pero. Believing that the swaggering bragga¬ 
docio, WHOM IT HAS MET WTTH ‘ HALF-SEAS-OVER,' 
TO BE A WORTHY SUCCESSOR OF PROSPERO WHOSE 
REIGN IT HAS RENOUNCED, THE ELATED MONSTER 
HAS BEEN KNOWN TO ADDRESS THIS TRINCULO TO 
THIS EFFECT :- 

4 I'll show thee every fertile inch o’ the island, 

‘ And kiss thy foot. I prithee be my god ! 

‘ I'll show thee the best springs: I’ll pluck thee 
berries : 

‘ I'll fish for thee, and get thee wood enough. 

‘ A plague upon the tyrant that I serve! 

‘ I'll bear him no more sticks, but follow thee 
‘ Thou wondrous man !' 

“ And so he changes masters ; but is a slave the 
same. And thus it is with this many-headed Mon¬ 
ster, Ignorance, to the end of the chapter. A Trin- 

CULO MIGHT BRING A CHANGE OF MISERIES, BUT NEVER 
A CESSATION. 

“ In every modern nation, this is one side of the 
picture : Ignorance, Animalism, Misery, and Crime ! 
Can this be Civilization ! To the degraded beings who 
compose this mass, could primeval barbarism, with its 
woods and wilds, and health, and liberty, be worse ? 


262 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


“ But let us turn to the other compartment of the 
picture. At the first glance it looks beautiful in 
contrast with the one we have just been contem¬ 
plating. The chief abatement to our pleasure, and 
the first, is, that, in extent and magnitude, it bears 
no comparison to the other side. Nothing, even if 
everything be as delightful as it looks to be, abso¬ 
lutely nothing to compensate for the dark and 
wretched outline just presented, but whose horrid 
details even Fancy must forbear to paint. 

“ Here, however, we have Pomp, Courts, Magni¬ 
ficence, Armies, Navies, Senates, Time-honoured 
Ceremonies, and Crowd-honoured Men; Kings, 
Queens, Ministers of State, Judges, Ecclesiastics, 
Universities, Nobles, Learned Men; Commerce, and 
its Ships, and Docks, and Marts;—and its Merchant- 
Princes, with their Mansions, and their Lackies, 
and their Sumptuous Feasts ! All this looks dazzling, 
gorgeous, grand: But is it real? It looks like 
happiness: but is it so ? Or is it but the gaudy 
mantle which Disappointment flings around itself to 
hide the incubus it took for Pleasure ? Is it Happi¬ 
ness ; or Misery with a mask on ? Is it the offspring 
of Knowledge; or should it call Folly father? This 
is what History could tell if it would. But it has 
ever suppressed the half. Placing the Magnificence 
in the foreground, it has artfully thrown the Misery 
into the shadowy, dim, receding distance. It has 
told but half the truth. Yet what is the Philosophy 
hitherto deduced from these one-sided representa- 


Chap. V.] 


THE ALPHA. 


263 


tions ? How is the failure of system after system 
accounted for P Why, that all human contrivances 
are necessarily imperfect and evanescent; and as to 
Right, that there is no right. A conclusion which 
every other order of being in the universe contradicts 
and falsifies every instant. 

“ If, however, to get positive Knowledge be our 
great vocation on the earth; and if in this vocation 
be comprised a happiness so great, and lasting, and 
complete, and godlike, that there is no greater pos¬ 
sible save that which comes from using our knowledge 
for a world-wide benefit, and communicating to all 
our fellows the ennobling means of the happiness 
we ourselves enjoy—all which our Principle teaches 
us—then have we abundant proofs in the pages of 
history, that Selfishness, which owns Ignorance for 
its sire, has ever been the cause of all the vicissitudes 
and failures which have hindered human progression, 
retarded the growth of intellect, wrecked every social 
system, and chequered the world with every variety 
of Evil through all preceding times. 

“If it can be shown that our Principle be not the true 
one, then are our deductions false: then are all our 
theorizings as vapoury and unreal as the Systems that 
have crumbled and are crumbling into the nothing¬ 
ness from which they sprung. But, if true, we have 
no need of History either as a warning or an example. 
We have only to follow our guiding-star of Truth to 
bring about that Millennium of intellect which some 
of the most thoughtful minds that have adorned 


264 


THE ALPHA. 


[Taut II. 


humanity have prophetically promised to our race : 
that period ‘ when there shall be but one fold and one 
shepherd; when men shall beat their swords into 
ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; 
when nation shall not lift up sword against nation ; 
neither shall they learn war any more/ 

BIOGRAPHY 

may be considered to be a portion of History. But 
if we read it without testing it by the principle here 
enunciated, we shall fail to extract much Philosophy 
therefrom. Without this test, Biography, like 
General History, out of the multitude of its examples 
affords no unerring rule for our individual guidance. 

“ If we would pursue the acquisition of Wealth as 
the means of happiness, we shall certainly find that to 
make a friend of that niggard Virtue, Prudence, will 
be to procure an alliance that will aid us every step 
of the way. 

“ If the attainment of Honours be aimed at as the 
ultimate Good, we shall find examples in abundance 
of the methods which have been successfully pur¬ 
sued. 

“ Fame be the ultimatum of our hopes, we shall 
find incentives in great profusion, and of every kind, 
to madden our ambition, and lead us astray : for 
great Fame comes of great Genius: and Genius, like 
the traveller across the sands, leaves no footprints 
behind it by which a follower might dog it to the 
Temple. Only this is to be gathered—that the 


Chap. V.] 


THE ALPHA. 


265 


most famous Geniuses the world has known, have 
generally been the least selfish, and most catholic- 
minded of men. 

“ But if we ask Biography to tell us which object 
we should pursue for the attainment of Happiness ? 
which object be the Right one ? or if any of them be 
right ? Biography cannot inform us. Our oracle is 
dumb. 

“ Having an unerring Principle for our guide, we, 
however, cannot have any difficulty in deciding these 
questions for ourselves. We have all one object to 
accomplish; one pathway to pursue: the object is 
the discovery of Truth: the road to it through the 
Intellect alone. Let those who would lead us by any 
other route exhibit their credentials: we have the 
hand and seal of Heaven itself to ours. 

“ From this view of the subject it requires but a 
moment’s consideration to perceive, that, for any 
positive, soul-enlarging Knowledge derivable from 
Biography, it might be altogether dispensed with 
without much loss: and, but for the gratification it 
affords to the best sympathies of our nature; and the 
proofs it yields us of what difficulties may be sur¬ 
mounted by unyielding perseverance, it might be 
relinquished without regret.” 

Civilis. The object of Dionysius in this Essay, is, 
I perceive, precisely similar to that in the preceding 
ones. His positions prove a most important fact in 
the economy of Education, and consequently, in the 


266 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


economy of time and labour. To know the Principle 
which determines the value of all human actions, and 
shows us which of them are Right and which are 
Wrong, renders the collection and collation of the 
recorded facts contained in Biography and History a 
needless labour. And as all the Literature which has 
reference to human affairs, whether speculative or 
historical, forms at present a considerable portion of 
the education of the educated, we perceive that their 
fancied wisdom is little else than folly, and the toil of 
its attainment nearly so much labour lost: whilst, by 
the help of the Pirst Principle, we perceive that, 
without the ability to read a book, it is possible for 
the most illiterate workman, whose mind has been a 
little disciplined by thought, to become wiser than 
the wisest statesman or the most erudite scholar 
amongst us. This is a stupendous fact, and as true 
as it is stupendous. 

Randolph. Yes, Civilis, real Knowledge, true 
Wisdom, consists in knowing what to do, and doing 
it; in knowing what to know, and struggling to 
obtain the knowledge; not in knowing (however 
truly) what, aforetime, others have known and done. 
This is Knowledge which the most knowing—have 
not; Wisdom which the wisest want. Not the least 
gratifying view of the fact enforced on our attention 
in this Essay, is the possibility of teaching the 
neglected millions all this Knowledge, and of placing 
the rest within their reach, without waiting for the 
decision of the Saints as to how far a working-man 


Chap V.] 


THE ALPHA. 


267 


would jeopardize his soul by his acquaintance with 
that heathen contrivance—the Christ-cross-row ! This 
shows us, notwitstanding the grave authority just 
referred to, that as a grain of wheat contains the germ 
of its own perfection, so does the Soul of Man; and 
that no man needs, through any natural necessity, to 
sue his fellow-man for permission to fulfil the purposes 
of his existence. To know himself is to know other 
men; and this is the certain key to all the knowledge 
which relates to the Will and Nature of the Deity, to 
his own nature, to the purposes of his being, and to 
the means of working out those purposes. Conse¬ 
quently, all that is professed to be taught (but which, 
after all, is not taught), by Religion, Ethics, Meta¬ 
physics, the Belles Lettres, and History, is really and 
amply taught in the simple Truth that the Soul is an 
Intelligent Principle incapable of any other acquisi¬ 
tion than the knowledge placed purposely within its 
reach; and that an immortality of Iiappiness is the 
inalienable birthright of all who will avail themselves 
of this proffered largess of a beneficent Creator. 

Civilis. This verity of verities (only in a far higher 
sense,) my dear Randolph, is the Lever that Archimedes 
sighed for. 

Randolph. It is: and, trust me, Civilis, with it we 
will raise the world. But, could the world overhear 
our vaunting, certes it would laugh at us. 

Civilis. Apropos to that; what is the cause of 
Laughter P why do we laugh ? I ask the question, 
because last night, when I perceived the climax of my 


268 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


reasoning which proved the beneficence of the Deity 
even in the tempest that destroyed my neighbour, my 
happiness was too great to enable me to articulate my 
thankfulness : but I laughed involuntarily. Why did 
I laugh ? 

Randolph. You were pursuing your argument in 
doubt, and consequently, in ignorance of the result; 
and your Laughter was caused by the sudden joy of a 
new and ennobling conviction. The violence of the 
emotion caused by the greatness of the suddenly-per¬ 
ceived Truth communicated itself to the physical 
frame, and the effect was Laughter. The Brutes never 
laugh : a proof that Knowledge is not a happiness to 
them, nor received as we receive it. To suppose the 
Deity from a similar cause to experience the emotion 
of Laughter is so impossible, and, at the same time, so 
incongruous an idea, that one almost laughs even at 
the deliberate perception of its irreverence and incon¬ 
gruity. Having nothing to learn, no new idea can 
suddenly enter the Divine Mind. A state of com¬ 
parative Ignorance, is, in all cases, necessary to 
Laughter. The Brutes do not laugh, because they are 
probably too ignorant to perceive an incongruity; 
hence it seems fair to infer that their Knowledge is not 
in the nature of soul-perceived Intelligence ; and that 
they do not derive any happiness from its acquisition. 
We laugh at the sudden perception of an incongruity. 
We laugh in our most serious moments (as you did) 
when a new thought or conviction rushes suddenly, 
or unexpectedly, into our minds. We laugh at what 


Chap. V.] 


THE ALPHA. 


269 


seems to be incongruous, or absurdly false. It is not 
at the mere absurdity of another's folly, mistake, or 
extravagant falshood, that we laugh: the emotion is 
the happiness we naturally derive from the exercise of 
our perception; but it is the unexpectedness of the 
incongruity that causes the physical convulsion. A 
thing is not necessarily incongruous, or absurdly false, 
because it produces laughter in another : it is enough 
that it seems to be one of these to him. It is not a 
deliberate feeling of triumph or ridicule at another's 
folly or ignorance; but an involuntary self-gratulation 
at our own capability to perceive the absurdity, 
whether it be a real or a supposed one. Prove 
suddenly to the Laugher that the supposed absurdity 
is not an absurdity, and he will laugh again. The 
world is sufficiently intelligent to perceive the apparent 
extravagance of some of our propositions, were they 
presented without the proofs; and sufficiently ignorant 
to be involuntarily affected by the circumstance : but 
acquaint them with our reasons for entertaining our 
convictions, and they would no more laugh than we 
do ; provided always that the knowledge came not too 
suddenly upon them : otherwise, in consequence of the 
delicate physical sensitiveness of some, it would 
occasion either Laughter or tears; in others it would 
produce speechless astonishment; but in all, Homage 
(expressed in some form of Happiness,) to the Bestower 
of the faculty that enables us to comprehend these 
everlasting verities. 

Civilis. Then our Laughter is not necessarily 


270 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


malevolent even when resulting from any absurdity 
we perceive in another ? 

Randolph. All genuine Laughter is involuntary; 
but Envy, and other selfish passions, frequently avail 
themselves of the natural circumstance, and convert 
the emotion into an instrument of offence; and some¬ 
times we .encourage the paroxysm, or simulate the 
feeling, for the express purpose of derision and 
annoyance. 

Civtlis. The more I examine and consider this all- 
explaining Principle of yours, Randolph, the more I 
wonder at its elucidating power. 

Randolph. Wonder is not the most apposite term 
for one to use who has really satisfied himself that a 
First Principle must necessarily possess this power. 
Wonder, like Laughter, is the bantling of Ignorance. 
The difference is this : we do not laugh until we have 
obtained the enlightenment , or until we think that we 
have obtained it; but when we wonder we are still in 
the dark. Although I have availed myself of a 
Mentor’s privilege to criticise your language, Civilis 
I sometimes share in your astonishment. It is, in 
comparison with anything previouly known, a mar¬ 
vellous power: for it is the only one $ and capable of 
the work it has to accomplish. What the Newtonian 
principle is to the material universe, the Dionysian is 
to the universe of Mind—and a great deal more. 
The former is a Second Cause, obeying an Infinite, 
errorless Intelligence, which is the First. Over the 
Universe of Created Mind the Dionysian Principle is a 


Chap. V. 


THE ALPHA. 


271 


First Cause, and being of the nature of the Great 
First Cause, is-intelligent; not a will-less Law, or 
Second Cause; but an Intelligent First Cause, 
operating within the limited Sphere assigned to it by 
its all-causing, all Intelligent Creator. Consequently, 
whilst the Newtonian Principle regulates, and is ca¬ 
pable of explaining all the phenomena observable in 
material things, however contradictory they appear; 
the Dionysian Principle regulates and explains all the 
phenomena of Mind; having the power to remove all 
obscurity, and to reconcile all apparent contradictions. 

Civilis. Thank you, my dear Randolph, for re¬ 
minding me of the nature and office of the First 
Principle. I feel myself, even yet, but a tyro in the 
study, and cannot so completely disengage my mind 
from my old modes of thinking, and old associations, 
as to avoid Wonder at the power you are teaching me 
to wield. I am so interested in these applications of 
the Principle that I should never tire of listening to 
your elucidations. Tell me, are not the Causes of 
Wit identical with those which produce Laughter? 

Randolph. Allied to one of the immediate causes 
of Laughter is the talent we call Wit, which consists 
in a habit (constitutional or acquired) of perceiving 
incongruities, and comparing absurdly dissimilar 
ideas ; and is one of the incentives to Knowledge; 
one of the aids thereto, though not the one most 
legitimate and direct. To perceive wherein things 
differ is a circuitous way (as used, however, by the 
mere Jester,) to the perception of the particulars in 


272 


THE ALPHA. 


[PAkT II. 


which they agree; which latter is the direct method 
of arriving at principles, and thence, at a first Prin¬ 
ciple. Suddenly to give pointed utterance to these 
incongruous ideas in a humorous or satirical form, 
produces, as we have seen, genuine Laughter. A 
talent the reverse of this is generated by the habit of 
perceiving Similitudes (more or less remote) between 
ideas which are not commonly perceived to resemble 
each other. This habit is Poetical. When such 
similitudes are made pointedly or gracefully apparent 
in beautifully appropriate language, and in some 
systemized and measured form, the result is Poetry. 
The aptitude to perceive these remote, or usually- 
overlooked resemblances and analogies in things, 
constitutes, therefore, the poetical character. To 
clothe them in appositely-beautiful and metrical lan¬ 
guage (together with an aptitude in the construction 
of the fable these similes are to adorn) constitutes 
the Art of Poetry. And in the application of these 
talents to the production and promulgation of great 
verities, or civilizing and noble sentiments, consists the 
true value of Poetry, namely, its Philosophy. And in 
Poetry, as we have already seen, we have the nearest 
approach to abstract Philosophy that has been yet 
attained by man and promulgated amongst us. The 
reasons for this we already know. An intimate 
acquaintance with the analogies of Nature leads to 
extended sympathies, to generalized views, and to 
philosophical deduction. 

Civilis. What an unspeakable happiness there is 


Chap. V.] 


THE ALPHA. 


273 


in Knowledge! To me this elucidation regarding 
the real nature and cause of Laughter is especially 
interesting. Probably there are but few persons 
who have ever reflected that Laughter might be 
homage-giving ; and yet the conclusion is inevitable 
when the feeling is analysed. I now wonder how I 
missed attaining to this knowledge long ago. But, 
alas 1 how insignificant must be the amount of all 
we can know of ourselves as long as we are ignorant 
of the Principle, which enables us to explain all 
mental phenomena, and as long as we entertain the 
erroneous notion that to know ourselves is an impos¬ 
sible acquisition. I have ever been subject to invo¬ 
luntary laughter in the midst of the most serious 
investigations; and often have I chid myself for 
Levity, deeming my tendency to risibility a natural 
but pitiable weakness. I remember once (when a 
student of the Inner Temple) laughing aloud in the 
midst of a most instructive and impressive Lecture 
on “ Evidence/’ To an auditory as mute as death 
the Lecturer was detailing the circumstances which 
led to the discovery of Eugene Aram’s guilty know¬ 
ledge of the murder of Clark. “ Taking up one of 
the bones,” said the Lecturer, “ which were supposed 
to be those of the murdered man, Aram incautiously 
remarked ;—* These are no more Clark’s bones than 
they are my bones.’ To which a bystander instantly 
replied :—‘ If you know that these bones are not 
Clark’s bones, you must know where Clark’s bones 
are.’ ” The circumstances of this singular case were 


T 


274 


THE ALPHA. 


[Taut II. 


new to me ; and the unlooked-for and most ingenious 
inference of the bystander, added to the solemnly- 
emphatic delivery by the Lecturer of these accusing 
words, let such a flood of light into my mind on the 
subject of evidence, and the mode of eliciting truth, 
that, as I have told you, I laughed aloud. I would 
have given the world to escape the momentary indig¬ 
nation which rebuked me for the unseemly inter¬ 
ruption. I felt that my emotion was an homage to 
Truth; and an homage also to the Speaker; but I 
should have been totally unable then to make the 
fact comprehensible to another. 

Randolph. Many earnest, truth-seeking minds 
must occasionally experience similar sensations : but 
do you perceive, Civilis, from this truth-elucidating 
fact through which Eugene Aram's guilty knowledge 
discovered itself, how difficult it is to act in contraven¬ 
tion of our knowledge ? The strongest motives to 
falsehood were operating on Aram's mind, and yet 
the Truth slipped out! On the strength of the 
Principle involved in this fact must be based, as I 
have frequently told you, our hopes of the subjugation 
of Evil, and the reformation of the world. Let the 
worl,d rid itself of all motives to Falsehood, and the 
Soul will no sooner perceive a Truth than it will 
render due homage to the God of Truth by acting 
conformably with its perception. This is Religion, 
Civilis : and Religion is a Necessity. The Soul does 
not “ worship" Truth: but, perceiving it, obedience 
to its dictates follows of necessity. Happiness cannot 


Chap. V.] 


THE ALPHA. 


275 


but be grateful to the Bestower of it: and this is the 
highest form of worship, save alone the Acts that 
grow out of it which have for their object the bestowal 
of Happiness on others. This is “ The whole duty 
of Man.” When Jesus of Nazareth was questioned 
on this subject; reducing the ten commandments of 
the Jews to two, he replied in these words: “ Thou 
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy soul, and 
with all thy strength: This is the first and great 
commandment: And the second is like unto it: 
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” He does 
not, Civilis, enjoin on men “ lip-worship:” he even 
reprehends “ long prayers:” but, both by precept 
and example he enjoins acts of self-denial in material 
things; and in spiritual things, unceasing acts of 
Love. The Knowledge we would teach mankind, 
Civilis, not only enjoins these duties, but enforces 
them. This form of expression might sound ego¬ 
tistical and presumptuous : but it is not so : it is an 
explanation, not a vain-glorious boast. No one is 
more grateful for the god-like beneficence of Christ’s 
teaching than myself; nor more humbly grateful for 
the Knowledge which has the capability of enforcing 
the practice of his happiness-affording Code of Love. 

Civilis. Suppose all men possessed of this know¬ 
ledge, my dear Randolph; would intervals of time be 
set apart for public Prayer and Worship, as at pre¬ 
sent? And if so, what would be the nature of the 
forms and ceremonies used on such occasions ? 

Randolph. In Religious observances, as in Social 
t 2 


276 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


and Legislative arrangements, the doings of the 
Future will be determined by the general amount of 
Intelligence which may at any time exist in any given 
community. But when men arrive, universally, at a 
just conception of the nature of Deity, Prayer and 
Worship will not be the sole, perhaps not the osten¬ 
sible object of the frequent gatherings of the people. 
These periodical meetings will be more for the dis¬ 
semination of knowledge than for the purposes of 
Prayer: for spiritual communion with God, and of 
Soul with Soul, than for laudatory worship. It will 
be felt that to do Right is the vitality of Religion: 
and knowing what is Right—to teach it to the young 
—will be the dignified, happiness-affording duty of 
the old. The Temple of the Deity will be conse¬ 
crated to Truth; and all Truth will be taught in 
the Temple. There will be no absurd distinction 
between secular truth and religious truth;—because 
there is no such distinction in reality. I shall, per¬ 
haps, better explain my meaning by reading to you 
the termination of a letter written by Dionysius to 
one who had applied to him for instruction on these 
subjects; but chiefly as to the efficacy and propriety 
of Prayer. After commenting on the universality 
of the Prayer wdiich Christ bequeathed to us, he 
says:— 

“ No prayer is good that is selfish. No prayer is 
good that is not in its nature universal. That which 
is desirable for us is desirable for all men. But as 
the Deity, our spiritual Father needs not to alter or 


Chap. V.] 


THE ALPHA. 


277 


suspend his Laws to accomplish the purposes he 
seeth good to be accomplished, and will not do so 
at our presumptuous promptings and ignorant en¬ 
treaties, why, though knowing how to pray, should 
we pray at all P Because every rational act of oral 
or mental prayer is a closer intercommunion of our 
Spirit with the Divine Spirit: every such act, there¬ 
fore, will hallow and strengthen thy Spirit; and thy 
prayer, if rational, and the end thou seekest be in 
consonance with the divine purposes of the Deity in 
the government of his Universe, will, peradventure, 
be answered by a spiritual light and power that may 
enable thee to realize thy hopes, and accomplish the 
good work thou desirest to do. Thus much as to 
the propriety and efficacy of Prayer. But, my dear 
young friend, remember this:—Every good wish; 
every right act, is prayer also; and Praise, and 
Homage too. To be a Spiritualist thou must, by the 
unselfish excellence of thy thoughts and acts , pray 
always : and this is assuredly the highest homage 
thou canst render Him who desireth no ignorantly- 
servile submission ; and cannot be gratified, after the 
manner of men, by mere lip-worship and laudations. 
To do right: to love thy fellow-creatures as thy 
heavenly Father loveth thee : to get Knowledge, and 
to live up to the full standard of thy spiritual 
nature: to subdue the animal, and evolve the god, 
is assuredly the most acceptable homage thou canst 
pay to Deity. But pray sometimes in thy closet. 
Abstract thyself from sense; and ask for strength 


278 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


and light: but chiefly that thou mayest be both 
strength and light to those who, wallowing in the 
slough of animalism, need thy help, thy strength, and 
thy enlightenment. Thus it was that he who had 
no selfishness taught Selfishness to pray/' 

Here our conversation was postponed until the 
morrow. What occurred at that meeting will be 
recorded in the following chapter. 


Chap. VI.] 


THE ALPHA. 


279 


CHAPTER VI. 

RANDOLPH. C IVI LI S. 

Civilis. I held a brief to-day in a case tried at 
Westminster, arising out of an injury done to the 
Plaintiff by one of those professional impostors known 
as Quacks. The action was sustained, and heavy 
damages awarded ; and (speaking as a Lawyer) I think 
justly so. But it is not to interest you in this case 
that I have mentioned it: for I know that, as far as the 
justice of the decision is concerned, you will say that, in 
the present irrational state of Society, the decision may 
have been Right; but that under a rational System 
the offence could not have been committed; and 
that Judicial Right is Social Wrong, felt or suffered 
somewhere. And, as a Dionysian, though not as a 
Lawyer, I perfectly agree with you. I have alluded 
to the case because it led me to ponder on a question 
which probably does not come within the province of 
our Eirst Principle to decide, for I could not fully 
satisfy myself on the subject. As Quacks, like 
Lawyers, are to be dispensed with under the In¬ 
tellectual System, I asked myself whether the 
“ Regular Practitioner” ought not to be dispensed 
with too? Tell me, my dear Randolph, how this 
question will have to be decided in the Court of 


280 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


Reason—a court from which there is no appeal? 
If the “ Faculty’’ are to exist, Evils must exist: 
for Diseases are Evils. My question, therefore, re¬ 
solves itself into this : Is Ignorance the sole cause of 
disease ? 

Randolph. There can be no doubt of it, Civilis. 
Ignorance is the cause of all Evil, and, therefore, the 
cause of Disease. Amongst the instinct-guarded 
Brutes that range the fields and forests in their natural 
state of liberty, it has been said—though I know not 
with what truth—that there is no disease. Man is 
Reason-guarded; and in this, as in all other matters, 
his Free Will, undirected by his neglected Reason, 
has plunged him into Error; and Error, into every 
description of Evil; and into this amongst the rest. 
The Health of the Lichen that luxuriates in the shade 
of yonder wall, is necessarily Purposed and Provided 
for by the Author of its being. And think you, 
Civilis, that the Health of the Human Species, the 
most favoured and peculiar work of the Deity, is not, 
also Purposed and Provided for ? The provision for 
Man’s Health is in his Reason. In all things his 
necessities admonish him to think. He is to have no 
Happiness, no Independent existence, if he neglects to 
think:—a providential provision, Civilis, for urging 
him to become Intelligent. It is, moreover, one of 
many collateral proofs of the high purpose of his being; 
his God-like nature; and his self-deciding destiny. 
Without Perception (which is only another name for 
Reason) Man could not obtain Food to nourish him, 


Chap. Vl.j 


THE ALPHA. 


281 


or Raiment to cover him, or Shelter to protect him 
from the inclement blast. And, if through his per¬ 
ception he obtains these; through the same means, 
why not Health? And if Health, why not all he 
desires and needs? His Desire and his Need 
precede his effort. He needs and desires Food: 
his perception enables him to find it. He needs and 
desires Health, and shall not his perception enable him 
to secure it also ? He desires Happiness ; but with¬ 
out the means to obtain it, his desire would be a 
mockery. We have seen that his Reason, which pro¬ 
cures him all his other blessings, also procures him 
this. He desires (how greatly he desires!) Im¬ 
mortality : and why does he desire it, if within him¬ 
self, he has not the means of securing the object of 
his desire ? Nothing is given him but through the 
exercise of his Reason : and, if not his Food, why his 
Health ? If not his Health, why his Immortality ? 
If we cannot know that twelve times twelve are equal 
to a hundred and forty-four without the aid of our 
Reason; how, without it, should we know that the 
Soul is immortal ? But, if Reason enables us to know 
the fact of least value to us, and towards which we 
feel no instinctive desire; why should it not also 
enable us to know the other, which is all-important, 
and towards which we are impelled by the most irre¬ 
sistible desire ? But the Desire to obtain Food must 
be followed by a rational Effort, or food is denied to 
us. The desire to procure Health, or Happiness, or 
Immortality must, in like manner, be followed by a 


282 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


rational Effort, or these also are unattainable. But as 
Eood and Raiment are not denied us when thus striven 
for; neither is Immortality, nor Happiness, nor 
Health. No, Civilis;—we should not need and 
desire Health, if the exercise of our Reason did not 
enable us to obtain it. “ Death, a necessary End, will 
come when it will comebut were we wise enough 
to live conformably to the dictates of our Reason, we 
should all attain old age, and die a painless death, 
and experience a calm translation from the physical 
to the spiritual world. In a rational state of so¬ 
ciety, and when the Diseases resulting from the folly 
of our progenitors shall have worn themselves out, 
there will be no disease which our Intelligence 
will not enable us to prevent; or, if it come, to cure. 
Even now, there is much good sense, not to say phi¬ 
losophy, in the well-known maxim, that “ a man 
of forty is either a fool or his own physician.” 
This would be beyond all question true, were men 
wise enough to live according to the obvious require¬ 
ments of nature, and had they the necessary leisure 
to study a science in which every human being is 
so largely interested. But as things are at present 
ordered, to live according to nature is next to impos¬ 
sible. Food in some places is too plentiful: in 
others too scarce : in other places there is none. In 
the first case, all methods are tried to tempt the 
cloyed appetite ; and feasting and riot is the one 
great business of human life: in the second case 


Chap. VI.] 


THE ALPHA. 


283 


the food is frequently unwholesome, as well as scant, 
whilst the one, all-engrossing idea of the class thus 
circumstanced, is to ensure a supply of it. In the 
third case, thousands are always on the verge of 
starvation, depending on the chance of the day, or 
the daily dole, for the daily meal. With the sump¬ 
tuous fare there is little healthful exercise: with the 
scanty fare, there is incessant labour: with the 
beggar, rags, and every variety of wretchedness. 
The consequence, in every case, is Disease; and, in 
the latter cases, maladies so fatally contagious, that 
in the plenitude of our queer piety, we father them 
on Heaven ! No, Civilis! we must have our incon¬ 
veniences and our sorrows here ; and these are pro¬ 
vided for by our ignorance in infancy, and our 
liability to error through the whole of our pilgrimage 
on earth: but all physical evils might be avoided 
without perilling our after-life felicity; and to get rid 
of the Physician might possibly help us to avoid 
disease. 

Civilis. Thank you, my dear Randolph, for this 
very lucid answer to my question, which I perceive 
relates more to physical than to mental philosophy. 
Another thought occurred to me when you were 
speaking of old age—of all men living to be old. 
From numberless causes that produce disease, it is 
probable that, annually, hundreds of thousands pre¬ 
maturely die. If the restraints imposed by Poverty 
be removed, will not more be born ? and if born in 


284 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


health, and if disease be banished from amongst us, 
would not the over-population so much dreaded 
by some, be more to be apprehended ? 

Randolph, He who made the Earth, made it 
spacious enough for its inhabitants. But, Civilis, 
when men live up to the standard of their mental 
nature, and spiritualize themselves by knowledge, it 
is presumable that they will no longer propagate like 
hares and rabbits ; but that births will be relatively 
rare in proportion to the certainty that every birth 
is the nativity of an Intelligence,—the advent of a 
future god. I do not mean that the forethought of 
men will altogether, if at all, produce this state of 
things; but that, as our intellectual nature, predomi¬ 
nates within us, our physical nature, and probably our 
sensual appetites, will be greatly changed. 

Civilis. I am satisfied. Pardon my occasional 
incredulity, Randolph; but, having so recently relin¬ 
quished all dependence on my old faith, I feel doubly 
interested in every circumstance which enables me to 
contemplate the Deity in the character of a beneficent 
Father, rather than in that of an inscrutable and an 
angry Judge. And such assurances as you have just 
afforded me that we are not sent here to suffer a 
multitude of Evils, the very existence of which seems 
to derogate from his beneficence (urged too as you 
have urged them,) afford me the most solid and 
enduring happiness. 

Randolph. A creed that forbids inquiry needs 
votaries of an easy faith: but Truth rejoices in the 


Cuai*. vr.i 


THE ALPHA. 


285 


scepticism that will be satisfied. I know your ex¬ 
treme anxiety, Civilis ; and have frequently remarked 
the delicate care with which you have sought to hide 
it from me. I am, however, sufficiently acquainted 
with my own mind to comprehend the struggle that 
is going on in yours. A mind that from the cradle 
has deemed Faith to be the best part of its religion is 
easily satisfied with the evidence on which that reli¬ 
gion rests. But your mind has been liberated from 
this pleasing thraldom : and having thus far ventured 
to think for yourself, Civilis, you will still doubt of 
your ability to be your own saviour until your new 
religion exists in your mind as an easily-compre¬ 
hended whole; and until the scheme of Providence 
with regard to man is perceived to be, in Beneficence, 
co-ordinate with the Creator’s Power. Let me help 
you to master these difficulties by an interlocutory 
process in which I must be both catechist and 
respondent. 

Q. Man is a dual-natured being; his immaterial 
soul is conjoined to a material body: why is 
this? 

A. Because no other plan so effectual as this could 
have been had recourse to by the Deity to make 
his Knowledge gradual, and his Happiness ulti¬ 
mately perfect; and at the same time to provide 
for the production of endless millions of souls 
through the operation of a general Law. 

Q. Why could no other plan have been so effectual ? 
A. Because, in the first place, no work of God can be 


286 


THE ALPHA. 


[Pabt II. 


imperfect as a means to an end; and, without 
conjoining Spirit to Matter, the Soul from its 
very nature must have been omni-Intelligent, 
incapable of Error, insensible of Ignorance, in¬ 
sensible of Sorrow, and consequently, insensible 
of Happiness. Secondly, because it is presum¬ 
able that the Soul could not by any other means 
have been rendered sensible of its separate exist¬ 
ence and Individuality. Thirdly, because by 
conjoining it to Matter all these beneficent pur¬ 
poses are fully accomplished. And, lastly, because 
by subjecting Matter to a general Law tending 
to these purposes, the Spiritual Universe could 
be peopled with Intelligences without end by a 
single act, instead of each being made the sub¬ 
ject of a separate or special creation. 

Q. Why is the Human Soul made capable of Intelli¬ 
gence ? 

A. Because Happiness is the purpose of its existence, 
and Intelligence is the means of Happiness. 

Q. But the Soul is created Ignorant; that is, igno¬ 
rant in the beginning of everything save a 
consciousness of its own existence:—Why is 
this ? 

A. That it might feel the inconvenience of Ignorance, 
and through the unhappiness thence arising 
arrive at a consciousness of Felicity; and that 
it might perceive the value of Knowledge which 
is the cause of Felicity. 

Q. Being ignorant (or nearly so) in the beginning, 


Chap. VI.] THE ALPHA. 287 

how is the impulse communicated which tends 
to Knowledge and Happiness ? 

A. By means of an Instinct or Desire prompting 
thereto, and a sense of Happiness whenever the 
desire is gratified. 

Q. Has not this Instinct or Desire many objects, and 
some of them not Intellectual, but Sensual ? 

A. It has apparently several objects, but in reality 
only one, namely, Endlessly-abiding Happiness. 
All minor objects, when rationally directed, sub¬ 
serve to this, the major one : thus; it desires 
Food, and Raiment, and Health, without which 
Life could not be supported long enough for the 
attainment of the Knowledge and experience of 
the sorrows and inconveniences necessary to the 
attainment of the major object, Happiness: it 
also has desires which lead to the continuance of 
the species, without which the general Law which 
provides for this continuation would be inopera¬ 
tive, and the Happiness of numbers would be 
unattainable except by constant special acts of 
creation. 

Q. When the desire which leads to the accomplish¬ 
ment of all minor objects is rationally directed, 
it subserves to the major object, Happiness. 
When not rationally directed what ensues ? 

A. Evil and Misery. 

Q. But Happiness being purposed as the end of 
human existence, why is there a liability to Error, 
from which Evil and Misery must ensue ? 


288 


THE ALPHA. 


[Paet If. 


A. Because an experience of discomfort, or sorrow 
and misery is absolutely necessary to the appre¬ 
ciation of perfect Happiness, and, consequently 
to the capability of its enjoyment. 

Q. Then the experience of discomfort or misery serves 
a plurality of purposes ? 

A. It does. First, it serves to show that the act 
which produces misery or discomfort is irrational, 
thereby prompting us to a more rational effort 
for the attainment of the Happiness which is the 
ultimate object of the act: secondly, it affords us 
an experience of the discomfort without which 
the Soul could not be sensible of Happiness. 

Q. But is not every act, whether erroneous or rational, 
the result of an innate, impulsive Desire ? 

A. It is : consequently an erroneous act is not a sin¬ 
ful act, but simply an act which, because it is 
irrational, is unhappy in its consequences: nor is 
a rational act a righteous, or rewardable act, 
but simply an act which, because it is rational, 
is happy in its consequences. Both acts are the 
necessary results of a predominating conviction 
which leads to the effort prompted by the Desire. 
The erroneous act fails in its object (which is 
some transitory or abiding Good,) and the Evil 
that ensues is the natural penalty. The rational 
act succeeds in its object, and the resultant Hap¬ 
piness is the sole, yet all-sufficient recompense. 

Q. Every act being necessary; is Man a Eree Agent ? 

A . He is : because, although prompted thereto by in- 


CnAP VI.l 


THE ALPHA. 


289 


stinct, he is not compelled to act until his reason 
is convinced; first, as to the propriety of indulg¬ 
ing the instinct, and, secondly, as to the means 
he will employ for this purpose. His Soul being 
an Intelligent Principle, Free Will inheres to it of 
necessity. Without Freedom of choice, there 
could be no Error; without Error, no discomfort; 
without discomfort or Misery there could be no 
appreciable Happiness. The Desire or Instinct 
only gives a bias, which in some cases might be 
altogether neglected ; but in no case can the 
object of the Desire be accomplished without an 
effort of the Intelligent Will. 

Q. In what does his Freedom of choice consist ? 

A. In the Selection of the Means by which his desires 
are gratified; which means will be wrong or 
right in proportion to the accuracy of his per¬ 
ception of the relation between cause and effect: 
And in the selection of the particular gratifications 
he might fix upon as the means of abiding 
Happiness : which selection will be wrong or 
right in proportion as he has attained to a just 
perception of his own nature, both physical and 
mental; of the purpose of his existence; and of 
the true native of the Happiness for which his 
Spirit yearns. 

Q. How is he to obtain this Knowledge P 

A. Just as he obtains all other Knowledge—by the 
exercise of his Perception : by perceiving that he 
has two natures : by perceiving why he has two 
u 


290 


THE ALPHA. 


[Pakt II. 


natures : by perceiving that the Soul is Spiritual, 
Immortal, Intelligent, and incapable of anything 
but Knowledge: by perceiving that all qualities 
are reducible to Knowledge : by perceiving that 
the body is organized matter, subject to death : 
by perceiving that the Instincts implanted in 
both natures are consonant with the requirements 
and necessities of both natures: by perceiving 
that to depend for his abiding Happiness on the 
gratification of those Instincts which subserve to 
the temporary continuation of Life, or the per¬ 
manent continuation of the Species, is to fix on 
gratifications which cease when life ceases: by 
perceiving, thence, that the Happiness which will 
abide with him for ever must be consonant in its 
nature with his Spiritual Soul, and, like his soul, 
be incapable of destruction : by perceiving that 
the Happiness resulting from Knowledge pos¬ 
sesses this consonance in nature, and this inde¬ 
structibility : by perceiving that there is no 
Happiness (save this alone), which is real, 
spiritual, and abiding: by perceiving that the 
relationship which Knowledge bears to the Soul 
is identical with the relationship which exists 
between the Soul and Deity : by perceiving that 
Deity, like the Soul, is what it is, is all it is, by 
reason of its Intelligence : by perceiving that every 
Instinct given to either nature, is given that it 
might be rationally gratified, not irrationally in¬ 
dulged : by perceiving that on his own Free 


CnAP. VI.] 


THE ALPHA. 


291 


choice depends whether he will irrationally pam¬ 
per his Brutal appetites, choose the Brute’s 
gratifications, live for them, abuse them, (which 
the unreasoning Brute does not); or whether he 
will select, more rationally, the Knowledge¬ 
craving Instincts of the intelligent Soul as his 
guides to Happiness,—live that he might become 
a terrestrial Intelligence, and die that he might 
become a God: by perceiving that every act 
necessary to be done, every object he has to accom¬ 
plish, is preceded by a Desire instinctively tending 
to the act; by perceiving that to accomplish 
the Desire demands a rational Effort: by per¬ 
ceiving that if he fail on his part (namely, in the 
effort,) whether the Desire be the minor one of 
Food, or the major one of Endless Happiness, the 
object of the desire will be unaccomplished : by 
perceiving that it were just as absurd to suppose 
that the Happiness can be obtained without the 
effort, as without the effort he could obtain the 
Food ; and just as insane to accuse the Deity of 
Injustice in one case as in the other: finally, by 
perceiving, (as a reason for this) that could he 
obtain Food without a conscious Effort, as his 
Lungs obtain air, and as his Heart obtains motion, 
—to eat or drink would be no enjoyment; and, in 
like manner, if without thought, without per¬ 
ception, without rational Effort, he could attain to 
an immortality of conscious existence, that on 
such conditions, to exist eternally, could not pos- 
u 2 


292 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


sibly be a Happiness. He must perceive that 
on one condition only is Happiness possible; 
namely, that he will take the trouble to secure it; 
that it must be his own act and deed ; and if he 
fail on his part, not only is the forfeiture of his 
privilege inevitable; but, even to human com¬ 
prehension,—it is just. 

This, Civilis, is the Sum and Substance of all 
Philosophy : the Alpha and Omega of all Religion. 
Ours is not a Creed demanding Paith; but a system 
of incontrovertible verities demanding that we know 
them. Every fact herein promulgated has been 
demonstrated beyond the possibility of refutal; and, 
when once seen, beyond the possibility,—even of a 
doubt. Our nature, and our purposed destiny have 
been brought within the limits of our perception. 
The beautifully-beneficent scheme of the Deity has 
been rendered comprehensible. We have “ justified 
the ways of God to Man.” 

Civilis. There can be no need to tell you I am 
satisfied. What is the system of Salvation on which 
I have been blindly content to lean, to this! The 
system of Original Sin, and Reward, and Punishment, 
and Paith, and Repentance, and inexorable Justice, 
and infinite Mercy, and Sacrifice, and Reconciliation, 
and Election, and Grace, and “ He will have Mercy 
on whom he will have mercy,”—rank, blasphemies, 
which yet men strangely reconcile with Reason! I 
but enumerate them, Randolph, to say I have re¬ 
nounced them all. Till now 1 never had a Conscience : 


CflAP. VI.] 


THE ALPHA. 


293 


for a Conscience cannot come of Opinion, Dictum, 
Faith; but of Knowledge only. Now I have the 
Conscientia ; the Knowledge of Good and Evil, Truth 
and Falsehood, Right and Wrong: and my Know¬ 
ledge must henceforth be my guide, my sole reliance, 
my Religion, my all-in-all. What I am I know ; 
What is the purpose of my double nature, and the 
beneficent object of my being, I also know : and, in 
part, I know why all the magnificent Universe 
around me was created, and why Man was placed 
in the midst of it. I need not tell you, my dear 
Mentor, that I am grateful; that I am supremely 
Happy. 

Randolph. Enough of this. We have yet busi¬ 
ness beneath the stars. From abstract Religion we 
must stoop to Social Politics. You have rightly 
described Conscience; which is knowledge, not 
opinion. But as Hooker has aptly said (and Society 
cunningly acts upon the maxim!): “ The reason 
why the simpler sort are moved with authority, is 
the conscience of their own Ignorance.” That is, 
they know that they are ignorant: but they do not 
know, Civilis, that “ Authority” is nearly as ignorant 
as themselves. And we must know it, by continuing 
our investigations, before we shall be competent to 
enlighten them. I had an object in removing your 
lingering doubts on the subject of Self-salvation: it 
was that we might be the better able to confine our 
attention to the philosophic unwinding by Dionysius 
of the tangled web of anomalies and contradictions 


294 


THE ALPHA. 


[rART II. 


of which human Society is composed, so that this 
portion of our subject might also be viewed as an 
easily-comprehended whole. We have yet, you 
know, to see what it is that sets the complicated 
machinery of Society in motion. I have previously 
told you that it is Selfishness, which would long ago 
have whirled itself into fragments but for the coun¬ 
teracting drags with which we regulate its mis¬ 
chievous velocity; and that these drags are Morals, 
Mystic Religion, Literature, and Laws. We have 
yet to trace these to their origin, see what amount 
of divinity there is in them, and value them at what 
we find them to be worth. To this end let us accom¬ 
pany Dionysius in his investigations. 

Extract from the Papers of Dionysius. 

“ Brief, and merely suggestive, as has been our 
examination of the stores of our accumulated literary 
Knowledge, — of course, I mean the Historic, 
Didactic, Imaginative and Speculative portion of it— 
it would have been altogether a needless labour to 
enter more extendedly on the ungracious task. But 
as the Principle we have taken for our guide decides 
most unmistakably that the only valuable addition 
the human Soul can make to itself is Truth, it be¬ 
came a matter of the first consequence to determine, 
generally, the real value of the Literature we regard 
with so much affection, and from which we have 
been wont to expect so much advantage. 

“ We have seen that our Literature is almost alto- 


Chap. VI.] 


THE ALPHA. 


295 


gether impotent as an agent of real civilization. Tar 
be it from us, however, to decry unnecessarily, or to 
speak slightingly, from any but the highest motives, 
of the Literature of the world, or in the slightest 
degree to undervalue the many blessings it has scat¬ 
tered amongst a portion of mankind. Far be it from 
us to say that the Virtues it has cherished, or the 
Moralities it has inculcated, or the Religion it has 
taught has been altogether vain and valueless. Far 
be it from us to assert that it has not enunciated, 
more or less distinctly, great and numerous verities. 
But these have been scattered at random amongst 
mankind without even their authors knowing their 
real value. We have, therefore, books in abundance, 
but not an unerring guide amongst them. Can any 
man lay his finger on a single sentence save this 
alone, 4 Do unto others as you would that others 
should do unto you,’ which contains an universal 
rule of Right? or a principle which discovers or 
determines what is Right ? Taking the whole mass 
of Literature, modern and antique, was such a prin¬ 
ciple ever deduced from it ? or is such a deduction 
possible ? If it has been found ; where is it ? what 
is it ? If it has not been found, and if it cannot be 
found, of what use is Literature, of what use is 
4 Learning/ except to build thereon mere empty 
pretensions to erudition and wisdom, and to impose 
on the illiterate with a sham ? 

44 Buying and selling Consols, Lands, Houses; 
buying and selling the products of the earth; buying 


296 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


and selling Law; buying and selling Men; buying 
and selling Souls; (and, in the same commercial 
spirit, driving bargains with Heaven itself,—for our 
very Religion is based on a quid pro quo !) —form, at 
present, the great and all-engrossing business of 
humanity. Of course most of our Literature has 
been produced for pay. No marvel that it is the 
slave of wealth. No marvel that the “ Knowledge” 
it dispenses should fail to make either its dispensers 
or its recipients Religious, Moral, Virtuous, Wise. 
No marvel that Knowledge so empty and unreal 
should have failed to make men Happy. 

“ As Society is at present constituted this pseudo- 
Knowledge has its value and its uses. Prostituted 
though it is to unworthy purposes—to the pampering 
of our animalism, and to a species of intellectual sen¬ 
suality scarcely more commendable than sensualism 
itself that it is capable of better things, and that it 
has accomplished better things, is gratefully and un¬ 
hesitatingly admitted : and were it distributed amongst 
the entire people, much good, probably the greatest 
good, would be the necessary consequence. Hollow 
as much of it is, it is because it is not the common 
property of mankind that its present use can be made 
of it by its present possessors. And this is not only 
well-known to all who know the current value of 
information and knowledge, but is the real cause of 
the continuance of the monopoly. There is Power 
amongst men only because there is Impotence and 
Imbecility; and this Knowledge (valueless as much 


Chap. YI.] 


THE ALPHA. 


297 


of it is) is Power. There is surface Urbanity and 
Politeness, only because there is Boorishness; and 
this Knowledge is the Urbanity and Politeness. 
There is Polish only because there is Coarseness; 
and this Knowledge is the Polish. It is nothing in 
itself: and if all possessed it, its nothingness would 
be apparent, and its present value gone. As it is, 
the possessors of Book-knowledge; and, of course, 
all the conventionally-educated aristocracy of all 
nations, do really feel themselves to be superior 
animals, and naturally look down with peacock com¬ 
placency and contempt on all below them who lack 
the showy externals in which they so exclusively 
rejoice. And it must be confessed that some of them 
are refined and elegant savages enough; most fasci¬ 
nating in their manners; knowing exactly when to 
stoop, and how. It is quite a luxury to see with 
what easy dignity all real Lords and Ladies can 
sustain an artificial character, and how gracefully 
they can demean themselves on all occasions. These 
people—whose ability to do better things is so appa¬ 
rent—luxuriate in a kind of sublimated Cannibalism. 
It is, however, much more refined and far-seeing than 
the cannibalism that goes naked, and lives in huts, 
and feeds on the physical fat and muscles of their 
fellows : no: it is far more delicate, far more provi¬ 
dent, to feed upon the products of their labour, than 
to pick their bones; to house their victims in huts, 
and live themselves in Palaces; to reduce their 
victims to systemized submission, and amuse them- 


298 


THE ALPHA. 


[PartII. 


selves by invisible control; to keep their victims in 
barbarous ignorance, the better to seem themselves 
like gods, and to make their reign perpetual. 

“ Below these majestic creatures, there is a class of 
semi-refined savages that apes the learning of the 
Learned, and the grandeur of the Great: a class, 
moreover, far less delicate and refined; but more 
lofty, more cruel, and if anything, more cannibally- 
given, than the lordly Anthropophagi it strives to 
imitate. But, be it known to all men that it is the 
more or less limited acquaintance with the Literature 
we have been examining that makes all the difference 
between the Anthropophagi of Birth, and the Anthro¬ 
pophagi of newly-acquired distinction and wealth ; as 
well as between really well-read men and superficial 
pretenders. Be it also known that there is no other 
difference between these and the Artisans, and the 
Hodmen, and the Thieves, and the Beggars at the 
bottom of this so beautifully graduated scale of 
“ orders” into which the Sons and Daughters of 
the Deity are divided on this, His blessing-bearing 
Earth. 

“ It will be seen that there is more Knowledge 
contained in our First Principle, than in all our 
Didactic, Historic, and Imaginative Literature put 
together. It contains, in fact, all the yet unthought- 
of Knowledge which can in any way appertain to 
Mentality: so that with it, the most illiterate might 
be far wiser than are the most learned without it: 
hence, no man need despair of being the peer of any 


Chap. VI. l 


THE ALPHA. 


299 


other man, whatever his Learning, in all matters of 
philosophy which has not reference to Physics. 
In physical philosophy, he who is master of the 
greatest number of facts, and who reasons most 
wisely concerning them, will always possess an ad¬ 
vantage over him who has fewer facts, and who 
reasons worse. I mean, of course, as long as a 
Selfish System robs the larger possessor of the un¬ 
bought happiness of imparting them. Not so, how¬ 
ever, in Mental Philosophy. To know the First 
Principle makes all men peers in Knowledge : and 
when this parity of Knowledge has been once attained 
universally in any Nation or separate community of 
Men, all else that is desirable follows of necessity. 
To be equal by nature, and to be thoroughly conscious 
of this equality, is to be equal Socially: and then, 
whatever arrangements might be agreed upon for the 
general convenience, will necessarily be based on the 
general Happiness. This is not, however, the Re¬ 
publicanism, nor the Socialism, nor the Communism 
which is everywhere clamouring for a recognised 
existence. The Millennium which benighted enthu¬ 
siasts yearn for will never come until Ignorance no 
more dreams that Socialism consists in Idleness and 
Sensuality reduced to a system. No! Socialism is 
ever-active Spiritualism, limiting the animal to its 
smallest dimensions, and lifting the Intellect to the 
summit of its capabilities. The ameliorations of the 
Social Evils to which such large masses of men are 
now directing their aspirations, and giving form to by 


300 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


combinations so variously denominated, are still afar 
off in the dim distance which Mind cannot penetrate 
without the optic-glass of an all-enlightening Principle. 
Such a Principle is now our own; and, by its aid, 
the possibility of the wished-for Millennium is dis¬ 
tinctly seen. But the work of regeneration must be 
the work of the Intellect—working in the multitude. 
They must educate themselves. This work must 
be begun in earnest, and pursued with a steadiness 
of aim, and a self-reliance which it might take ages 
to acquire: but acquire it they must, or continue 
thralls. 

“ Perhaps the most important maxim we have 
derived from classic antiquity is, ‘ Know thyself: * 
but the author of the aphorism did not supply us 
with the key to the Knowledge he commended, with 
such truly Doric simplicity, to our attention. Without 
the key, the injunction, Do right , were not more an 
enigma. 

“ If we take it for granted that the subject of self 
is inscrutable, we naturally make no effort to know 
ourselves : and the aphorism is useless. 

“ If we believe each individual self to be a mere 
transitory existence, and that our species only is 
immortal, we necessarily decline the study altogether ; 
and here again the aphorism is usless, for it leads to 
no result. 

“ If we believe in our immortality, but, at the 
same time assure ourselves that we are by nature 


Cuap. VI.] 


THE ALPHA. 


301 


deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, 
the maxim is realized in the belief; but so unsatis¬ 
factory is the knowledge that ‘ Know thyself’ sinks 
into a sarcasm, and we look upon its author as an 
oracular cheat. 

“ If, however, self-knowledge is the key to all 
knowledge, and if the Happiness for which we are 
designed depends on the acquisition, then * Know 
thyself’has a meaning worthy of its antiquity: for 
it is the touchstone of all Truth ; it is the foundation 
of all Religion ; it is the basis of that superstructure 
of Intelligence that every man must rear for himself: 
—a work in which, whilst another’s aid might ease 
our labour, another’s tyranny can neither hinder nor 
repress. 

“ Wherever the Deity has placed a brute animal 
there he has placed its appropriate food, and every¬ 
thing necessary for the gratification of its instincts, 
and the development of its peculiar nature. Wher¬ 
ever he has placed a flower, or a lichen, or a blade of 
grass, there is its appropriate soil; there it flourishes 
and arrives at its perfection. Thus, seeing the most 
perfect adaptation of means to an end in every other 
work of the Deity, we might, with certainty, have 
predicated, without waiting for the proof, that the 
Literature which one portion of mankind has the 
power to produce, as well as to lock up from the 
other portion, could not contain anything really 
essential to the wants and welfare of the entire 


302 


THE ALPHA. 


[Past II. 


species: and our examination of these so-much- 
estimated treasures has demonstrated the fact. 
Therefore:— 

“ Fellow-labourers, Hodmen, Husbandmen, Me¬ 
chanics, Artisans, Soldiers, Sailors, Serving-men, and 
Serving-women, ye upon whom the ‘ primal curse’ 
has been adroitly shifted, wherever ye are on this 
globe, and whatever your callings and condition,— 
Know yourselves. Your bodies are of the same 
materials, your souls of the same pure essence, your 
capabilities the same, your destinies, the same as 
those for whom ye labour, whom ye serve, and whom 
ye have been falsely taught to believe were created 
to be your superiors in station and intelligence. Be 
true to yourselves : know yourselves : live up to the 
standard of your spiritual nature, and no power on 
earth can keep ye thralls.” 

Randolph. This last sentence, Civilis, is an in¬ 
terpolation. In the general justice of the verdict 
passed by Dionysius on the Literature which so largely 
enters into the education of the educated, I think 
you will agree ? 

Civilis. I believe, Randolph, there is no possibility 
of coming to any other conclusion with respect to it. 
Thus, Metaphysics, Moral Philosophy, Mystic Re¬ 
ligion, and Literature, have been either absolutely 
demolished, or proved to be almost futile as aids to 
rational Civilization. However un-Dionysian the ex¬ 
pression, Randolph, the thing is wonderful. Here we 


Chap. VI.] 


THE ALPHA. 


303 


have ONE TRUTH in lieu of a jumble of fancies 
which constitute our Metaphysics; for all mental 
qualities are necessarily included in the first, which 
is Intelligence; and the nature of the ONE explains 
the nature, and determines the action, of all. This 
same TRUTH absorbs into its own being the 
Moralities, and the Virtues, and the veritable portion 
of Religion. They have no separate, no positive 
existence. They and it are ONE. Do Right is the 
grand total of all Religion. The Knowledge of what 
is Right obliges us to do Right: and to know what 
we are includes this Knowledge, and enforces its ob¬ 
servance. Do Right is again the sum and substance 
of Morality. Morality is lost in Knowledge. And 
with the Moralities away go the Virtues, all save Love: 
and what is Love if we abstract Intelligence ! It is 
easy to foresee what Dionysius will make of Social 
Politics. Selfishness is necessarily based on the 
Animal Instincts, not on the Intellectual. Pleasure is 
mistaken for Happiness—Unmitigated Selfishness 
would desolate the Earth—hence restraints,—Mystic 
Religion, Morals, the Virtues.—Selfishness admitted 
as the basis of Society, the Do Right of the Moralists 
means only this,—Be as unselfish as you can ; in other 
words,—Be Prudent, but be Generous.—But if un¬ 
selfishness is Right, Selfishness is Wrong : ergo, the 
very basis of all Social Action is Wrong.—Remove the 
original Wrong, and Morality has no existence.— 
Remove Morality, and the Virtues fade.—It follows 
that the unreal things called the Moralities and the 


304 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part It. 


Virtues cannot make part of the Reality called 

Religion.—Religion has reference to the Deity.- 

I perceive it all, my dear Randolph.—But I will come 
to the next reading : shall it be to-morrow ?—Monday 
I start on Circuit,—for the last time, Randolph, for I 
am cured of Law : I am out of love with Justice.— 
I am both a better Lawyer and a worse, than before I 
became your pupil—I see through and through men : 
not a motive is hidden from me.—I see the convictions 
on which men act—Wrong? Right?—nq matter 
which,—they compel the acts of the disputants,— 
Justice !—My business is henceforth to teach my 
fellow-creatures.-Shall we have the next Essay to¬ 

morrow, Randolph ? I shall be all ear. I will not 
interrupt you by a word. 

I assented: and, commending my excited friend to 
calmness, we parted for the night. 




Chap. VII.] 


THE ALPHA. 


305 


CHAPTER VII. 

RANDOLPH. CIVILIS. 

Randolph. The Notes I have arranged into the 
form of an Essay for this evening, Civilis, are 
somewhat more extended than on the previous oc¬ 
casions : but as you are leaving town to-morrow, I 
have been anxious that you should have an entire 
view of the whole subject fixed systematically in your 
mind previously to your departure. What Society is, 
we shall see in this Essay, as in a Mirror. What 
it ought to be, we have already seen with tolerable 
distinctness. 

Civilis. I am infinitely indebted to you, my dear 
Randolph. I hope you purpose to confer a similar 
obligation on the world.—You will publish these 
papers, will you not ? 

Randolph. It is my intention to do so, Civilis. 

Civilis. Your book will meet with many Objectors, 
and some who will not deal very fairly with it: for 
Self-interest is stronger than conviction: besides 
which, this feeling—this Self-interest—absolutely 
blinds men, and will not let them see a disagreeable 
truth. 

Randolph. We must expect opposition, Civilis. 
Men are fallible; and we may be in Error : but 


x 


306 


THE ALPHA. 


[P ABT II. 


this, Time and Discussion will show. Madmen do 
not know that they are mad. Fools are not aware of 
their folly. We may, you know, be Madmen or 
Fools. There are those who would think that we are 
desecrating the Sabbath by talking of these things 
to-day. We hold a very different opinion. Our 
Principle is either true or false; and if we are 
labouring under a delusion, we shall be among the 
first to hail the demonstration that can set us right. 
No man is aware of the extent of his own Ignorance. 
That which he believes to be Truth is Truth to him 
until he has become convinced of its falsehood. No 
man can positively know that another man is wiser 
than himself: for the very instant he is conscious 
of the fact he is a new man : the demonstration has 
dissipated the difference. Thus it is with us, Civilis : 
thus it must be with all men. If our assumed First 
Principle be not the fundamental Truth, one of two 
things ensues : either there is no such Truth (which 
amounts to this—there can be no God); or there is 
such a Truth, but it differs from ours. In either case 
the Objector must demonstrate his position before 
we can abandon ours. But, in this case, our object 
will be attained : we shall get the Truth: we shall 
make a step in Intelligence : we shall be no longer 
his inferiors in this particular. He has but to 
prove the disparity between himself and us ; and 
that disparity will have ceased to exist. Truth has 
this advantage over Falsehood,—all men are really 
interested in it: and, in the present case, for one 


Chap. Vlf.] 


THE ALPHA. 


307 


whom Falsehood seems to benefit, there are a hundred 
whom it hurts; and as Knowledge is power, Error 
will ultimately go to the wall. Were Fame my 
object, I would not publish these papers. If I ex¬ 
pected profit, I would not publish them. Nor would 
I publish them if I feared to awaken ridicule, envy, 
hatred, malice, and all uncharitableness. But as I 
hold it to be the duty of every man to do right re¬ 
gardless of personal consequences, I shall certainly 
give the world an opportunity of forming a judgment 
concerning them. If they are founded on a fallacy 
they will be soon forgotten ; if on the fundamental 
Truth, they will slowly and noiselessly influence, 
towards a healthier action, the mind of the entire 
world. The way is long ; but (unless I greatly err), 
it is a safe way, and the only one. Whoever sup¬ 
poses that I consider myself a Magician, having but 
to wave my wand over the broad ocean of Error, as 
Moses is said to have waved his over the Red Sea, 
and that instantly a way to the promised land will 
be opened through its waters, he, and not Ramus 
Randolph, is a dreamer and an enthusiast. England 
was never (in the common acceptation of the word) 
greater than it is now; and never further from the 
path of real Civilization,—save only that Knowledge 
is spreading, and a dreamy sense of some impending 
change is experienced by many thousands of its more 
intelligent and liberal citizens. But the governing 
powers are as infatuated as ever with its physical and 
commercial greatness, which they calmly dream will 
x 2 


308 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


be perpetual. And probably this very circumstance 
will be the greatest impediment to its reformation. 
No nation on earth will have a harder struggle to rise 
superior to the influences by which it is so thoroughly 
enmeshed. Not even Italy with its Atheism; nor 
Prance with its Sensualism, its sentimentality, and 
its fondness for display. But these are not reasons 
why the Truth should not now be told; why the 
seeds should not now be sown, which, if they have 
the ever-living germ of Divinity within them, will 
spring up, if not in this, in a more congenial soil, 
and produce a rich harvest of happiness for the 
world. Listen now to Dionysius. 

Extract from the Papers of Dionysius. 

Origin of Governments, Laws, Morality, the 

Virtues, and Mystic Religion.-Society as 

it is. 

“ To live luxuriously, or, by acquiring Wealth, to 
have the means of living luxuriously, is confessedly 
the great temporal object of mankind at present; but 
more especially of that portion of the human family 
which claims to be considered Civilized. By Wealth 
I mean high wages, large profits, and inordinate 
accumulations. 

“It is true that in every nation, the great bulk of 
the people are below the hope of attaining this object 
in any considerable degree. But, not to notice indi¬ 
vidual exceptions, this is the desire of all : and so 



Chap. VII.] 


THE ALPHA. 


309 


strong and general is this desire that it might be said 
to operate almost as an instinct. It is, in fact, 
instinctive. The true character of this Instinct is 
not, however, the acquisition of Wealth, but the 
attainment of Happiness. 

“ The desire to get luxurious indulgences is, then, 
a natural Instinct of the Soul, seeking, through minor 
physical instincts, the Happiness which these instincts 
(given for other purposes), have not in their power to 
bestow. Wealth can buy luxurious indulgences: 
these indulgences are supposed to be capable of 
affording the Happiness of which every one is in 
search: hence (except amongst those—and their 
name is legion,—whose daily drudgery limits their 
ambition to the acquirement of their daily bread), 
all our aspirations tend to the acquisition of Wealth. 

“ This craving is the mainspring of all the move¬ 
ments of Social life: and, as at present regulated, is 
the cause of nearly all the Social miseries to which 
semi-civilized Man is subject. The feeling is neces¬ 
sarily Selfish. And if our Laws were so framed that 
the Selfishness of every individual of a Community 
should be restrained from gratifying its cravings at 
the expense of others, it is clear that the folly of 
expecting Happiness from Wealth must long ago 
have ceased; because its emptiness would have been 
felt, and all inordinate accumulations would have 
been prevented. 

“ Laws, however, instead of repressing, or setting 
rational limits to the activity of this Selfish desire, 


310 


THE ALPHA. 


[1’art II. 


have been framed to sanction and encourage it. 
In fact, the origin of Laws was the protection of 
inordinate accumulations, as we shall presently see. 

“ We have only to do with what is. Hoav what 
is came to be, is but of little consequence. We will, 
nevertheless, advance a theory which may help us to 
understand the past, and remove the impediments 
which surround the future. 

“ If all History did not attest the fact, Common- 
sense must perceive that the origin of Property was 
the Law or Principle of Brute Force. No other 
origin is probable: and, certainly, no other Law 
could ratify the right. Man, as an animal, requires 
sustenance. Nature in its vegetable and animal 
products affords this sustenance. A strong man 
marks out a certain portion of land which supplies 
the food and other comforts and conveniences of 
which he stands in need. He calls it ‘ Mine/ and, 
if necessary, defends it by his physical strength and 
prowess. Others do the same. In the process of 
time, all the land of a district, or natural nation, is 
thus marked out and appropriated. It may be that 
some men have failed to acquire a portion. No 
matter. Might is Right ; and he who is not 
strong enough, or sufficiently adroit to secure a por¬ 
tion, ljiust look for one in some unappropriated part 
of the world to which he can hew himself out a way, 
or otherwise obtain access. He must do this or 
starve, or steal, or live on alms, or become the slave 
and menial drudge of one more fortunate or more 


Chap. VII.] 


THE ALPHA. 


311 


ferocious than himself. After a time it is found that 
the spontaneous products of any thus-appropriated 
district are not sufficient to support its accumulated 
population. It is further found that the natural 
fertility of the soil might be increased by culture. 
The serfs and their progeny are employed on this 
labour. They obtain permission to live on condition 
of the performance of this servile drudgery. The 
Lord has the power of life and death over his slave. 
He has acquired a property in his fellow-man; a 
Right in the strength and life-blood of his brother. 
The latter must be obedient to the former in all 
things. The Possessor of the soil has now Leisure as 
well as Power. This leisure is spent in the animal 
indulgences now at his command. He employs his 
serfs to build him a stronghold for a dwelling: to 
fence around his possessions; and to serve him in 
any way that may best administer to his growing 
luxuriousness, and make the distance between the 
Lord and his Serf more impassable and complete. 
Lord!—a name by which we distinguish Deity. It 
is needless to remark on the modesty of this epithet 
when applied to men,—and to such men ! This 
Chief or Lord has still a craving for something he 
has not. In the midst of his sensualism he is still a 
Man. He wants Happiness. He conceives that 
more wealth will supply the want. He tries to 
gratify this craving by dispossessing a weaker neigh¬ 
bour of his possessions and adding them to his 
own. His menials are compelled to lend their as- 


312 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


sistance ; and he perceives the acquisitive and aggres¬ 
sive uses that can be made of menials. He succeeds 
in his aggressions, but is still unsatisfied. Greater 
possessions have given him greater power; and with 
his power increases his rapacity. He is not singular 
in all this: many others are practising the same 
policy. No sooner is a province apportioned than 
the Possessors thereof make Laws; or without any 
fixed or written Laws, determine amongst themselves 
that any attempts by the Non-possessors to relieve 
themselves from this possessionless condition, or to 
make reprisals, shall be denominated Crimes, and be 
punished accordingly. 

“If * Might’ were rationally as well as brutally 
‘Right,’ these Laws or regulations would be also 
right. But this not being the case, Might is Wrong; 
or rather it was wrong; and the original assump¬ 
tion of Property in the soil, the real Crime: and 
the crime so called, not crime, but a justifiable 
attempt to obtain the restitution of a natural right. 
Many have been the efforts for this restitution. 
Numerous have been the attempts at reprisal. But 
they have never, to any extent, succeeded: and 
where they have succeeded it has been only a change 
of the oppressed into Oppressors; and vice versa. 
Every successful effort (where reprisal has been 
attempted), as well as every failure, has, therefore, 
only added strength and consistency to the maxim— 
Might is Right, and all opposition thereto is 
Crime. 


Chap. VII.] 


THE ALPHA. 


313 


“ The idea of Justice was necessarily very simple. 
The powerful Possessor could apportion what degree 
of punishment on the refractory, possessionless menial 
he might choose, and call it retributive Justice. Of 
course this Justice, based on an abstract wrong, is 
conventional. It is, in fact, Injustice conven¬ 
tionally elevated into a Virtue. Growing out 
of the same wrong come the virtues of a more amiable 
character, namely Mercy, and Forbearance, and others 
of the same family. 

“ The craving for more Power amongst the power¬ 
ful, led them, as we have seen, to prey on each other. 
This was an evil that came home even to them. In 
process of time it was therefore found expedient to 
agree upon some principle of action amongst themselves. 
It became necessary to make Laws to restrain this 
growing licentiousness, and make one Proprietor re¬ 
spect the property and rights of his neighbour. A man 
might barter, sell, or give away his property; but 
even the wealthiest must not be permitted to take by 
violence the property of the poorest. Hence the 
LAWS SANCTIONING, AND MAINTAINING THE ‘ IN¬ 
ALIENABLE rights’ of Property, and protecting 
THE POSSESSOR AGAINST THE UNRESTRAINED RAPACITY 
OF HIS RICHER AND MORE POWERFUL NEIGHBOUR. 

Thus the original wrong, which Brute force had con¬ 
verted into Right, became also a Legal Right : and the 
class of Serfs, were, as a class, cut off from their natural 
rights for ever; whilst limits were set to rapaciousness 
when directed by one proprietor against another. 


314 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


“ After it had been thus arranged that disputes re¬ 
lating to property should no longer be decided by 
Brute force or War, a tribunal, or a Judge ! would be 
appointed to decide between litigants : and probably 
the first Judge had been the most active depredator; 
selected as Judge, and perhaps as Chief of the district, 
province, or nation, on account of his possessions and 
the number of his dependents or serfs, as helps to the 
enforcement of his decisions. 

“ This, then would be the beginning of Civilization, 
which, even now, means little, if anything more than 
the establishment of Order by means of the 4 Pains 
and Penalties’ attached to the infractions of Civil 
authority and Law. All Laws, or Social regulations, 
would be based on this (rationally speaking) unjust 
foundation. Thus reared on abstract wrong all Laws 
would naturally and necessarily recognise the Right 
founded on Might. Deeper than this for a basis they 
did not, and under the circumstances, deeper they 
could not go. And deeper than this the interpreters of 
Law—the Blackstones, and the De Lolmes, have never 
gone: because deeper they have not dared to go. 
And if any length of time can convert Wrong into 
Right, six or eight thousand years is a powerful argu¬ 
ment against opposition and cavil. I am inclined to 
think that it is a conclusive one, and for this reason 
amongst others :—the contest was purely an animal 
contest: the weaker succumbed to the stronger ; and 
if the former had chanced to out-general their 


Chap. VII.] 


THE ALPHA. 


315 


oppressors, they would have been the Oppressors, and 
their victims the Oppressed. 

“ We shall now see another reason. In the process 
of time, the Serfs, or subjugated portion of mankind, 
demand and obtain a recognition of their claim to a 
Uight of Property in their Labour, and in all proceeds 
thence arising. And wherever this Right has been 
recognised, and is, by usage or Law, maintained, 
Civilization is said to exist; because Slavery, in name 
at least, has been extinguished. Man has relinquished 
his property in Man, retaining only a property in the 
surplusage of his labour. Admitting, or overlooking 
the original wrong, the class of Serfs thus became 
identified with the Selfish or Brute-force Principle: 
and Selfishness became the universal Law and sole 
principle of action amongst mankind. 

“ Hence arose all the Interests, as well as all the 
confusion and complication of Rights which we find 
amongst us at the present day, and which it is the 
all-absorbing business of the world to balance and ad¬ 
just so as to prevent the fabric of Error thus raised 
from falling into pieces, and re-resolving itself into its 
simple element, Brute-force, or the Right of the 
Strongest. To this it is ever tending : and to this it 
must tend always. Hence also the denominations 
of property, ‘ Real’ or Landed; and ‘ Personal/ or 
Money, Merchandize, Goods, Chattels, &c. Hence 
also the origin of Classes as we find them at present: 
the Higher Class who possess the Land and the chief 


31G 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


governing power: the Middle Class who have enriched, 
or are endeavouring to enrich themselves, by their 
profits on the Labourer’s Labour, and by their own 
earnings and savings; all which have obtained for 
them a share of political power: and the Lower or 
Labouring Class who have no property but the 
modicum arising out of their labour, and are thence 
destitute of all political power. 

“ This, then, is the natural (but for Men, the 
irrational,) though, under the circumstances, the 
desirable Compromise by which all men in ‘ civilized’ 
communities have bound themselves to the Selfish, 
or,Brute-force Principle. All recognise it: all par¬ 
ticipate in it to the utmost of their power: all who 
can in any way profit by it (that is, live by it,) 
protect and cherish it: each man subscribes himself 
Slave to the Selfish Principle : each is compelled in 
self-defence to accumulate and to keep: Distribution 

IS THE ACCIDENT OF THE SYSTEM, WHILST ACQUISI¬ 
TIVENESS is the Law. 

“ The only Love that was evinced in the struggle 
which brought about this state of things, Avas Animal 
Love (of course, more or less modified in its Selfish¬ 
ness in proportion as the Intellect obtained enlighten¬ 
ment and strength :) hence, what more natural than 
that the propertied classes should secure their Pro- 
perty against future aggression—to their ‘ heirs for 
ever P To accomplish this, Laws were made and 
promulgated. To enforce obedience to these and 
all other property-produced Laws, Governments were 


Chap. VII.] 


THE ALPHA. 


317 


established. It matters not what were their form; 
this was their object. What we have especially to 
notice is this;—that the acquisition and recogni¬ 
tion of Property created all Crime which has 
reference to property, whether this reference 

OR RELATIONSHIP BE IMMEDIATE OR REMOTE. Out of 

this same institution of Property sprung the idea 
(such as it is) of Justice; and, as we shall subse¬ 
quently see, of the other Virtues, and the Moralities, 
and Mystic Religion. 

“ The Right founded on Might has its advantages: 
and these advantages are to a certain extent secured 
by Government and Laws. But, being an evil re¬ 
sulting from Ignorance and Error, it has also its 
disadvantages: and this is one of them; Crime, of 
which it is the parent, dogs it as its shadow: and 
as long as this spurious Right lasts, dog it it will, 
even were it through eternity. Property, and its 
attendant, Power, might change hands to-morrow: 
no matter : Crime would be prowling in its rear. 

“ Do not let us any longer profanely attribute 
these evils of our own contrivance to the Deity who 
has beneficently made even our mistakes of use to us, 
and who has amply provided us with the means of 
avoiding them. 4 Original Sin’ was and is the original 
mistake of adopting Brute-force as Right, and 
living according to the dictates of our Animal In¬ 
stincts, instead of following the dictates of our 
Intellectual nature and seeking Happiness in Know¬ 
ledge. 


318 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


“ We have seen how the institution of Property 
gave birth to Crime—a conventional name for acts 
which could not have had an existence but for the 
Brute-force which originally converted an abstract 
Wrong into a Legal Right. We have seen how the 
existence of Crime gave an ideal existence to Retri¬ 
butive Justice; and this Justice, to the Virtues— 
Mercy and Forbearance. We have yet to see how 
it generated the other Virtues, and the Moralities, 
and Mystic Religion. Crimes were punished by 
pains and penalties under the sanction of that con¬ 
ventional Justice now denominated Law. But Laws 
could not reach every description of delinquency;— 
as Hatred, Malice, Mendacity, Evil thoughts, and 
Malevolent intentions ; all which passions and feelings 
were generated by the accumulative principle that 
first brought unnatural want, and abjectness, and 
misery amongst men. As Civil Laws could not 
reach these passions and evil feelings, it became neces¬ 
sary to invent a Moral Code : in other words , to 
propound a Conscience for the disaffected and dis¬ 
obedient members of the Community. Yes, Authority 
had to forge a Conscience for mankind to enable it 
to rule them. The thing was easy. Successful men 
are clever men. Riches can buy the Genius that 
Poverty is glad to sell. It is well that it is so: 
for here was the advent of Literature, and Science, 
and the Arts: — the barbaric nursery of Soul. 
The malignant Passions mentioned above were 


Chap. VII.] 


THE ALPHA. 


319 


denounced as Wrong, Wicked, a breach of the 
Moral Law. To obtain covertly by Mendacity, 
Fraud, or Cunning, any portion of the property 
of another, was also (and, under the circum¬ 
stances, properly so) denounced as an infraction 
of the Moral Code. Even to harbour a malicious 
thought against another, was pronounced to be 
equally wicked and immoral. But how could this 
species of Crime be punished? — Genius lends its 
aid, and the thing is done !— By denouncing it 
as disobedience to the Gods !—that is,—when 
every aspect and phase of Nature was a god ; and 
afterwards by heralding it as SIN against the 
Author of all Goodness, the God of all 
Justice, the All-seeing ONE. Hence the Future 
Punishments for the morally Bad, and the Future 
Rewards for the morally Good—the Hell-fire, and 
the Happiness, which were to be eternal. Great 
aids all these, to Governments. Hence, Moral 
Goodness, allied to the performance of certain 
rites, and the subscription to certain Creeds, 
came to be denominated RELIGION. Hence also, 
Men clothed the gods, even the one God whom 
they thus invoked, with the very attributes they had 
manufactured for themselves ! The great unseen God 
was, to all sinners, a God of inexorable Justice, a God 
of Vengeance, visiting the consequences of Sin on the 
children of Sinners even unto the third and fourth 
generations: but a God of Mercy and Loving.kind- 


320 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


ness unto the believers in the mysteries of Religion, 
and the sinless observers of the Moral Law. 

“ But, as a System of unmitigated Selfishness 
could not work and be perpetuated without some 
ameliorations, the opulent were compelled (as well 
from natural feeling as from policy), somewhat 
to relax its rigours:—they were constrained to 
be Benevolent to the miserable victims of the 
System; and to become Good Samaritans amongst 
the way-side unfortunates, who, hungry had none 
to feed them; who, sick and homeless, had 
none to help them in their abjectness. All such 
Virtues were lauded as duties of Religion, and as good 
and acceptable services to God :—to that God, mark 
you, who has sent an abundance for all, which if 
unselfishly distributed to all, these Virtues (godlike 

as they are) could have no existence!-The 

endurances of the Poor were also elevated into 
Virtues !—Patience, Probity, Long-suffering, For¬ 
titude, and Charity—if not of Alms—of thought 
and speech :—all these were likewise made a part of 
Religion ;—the Good Works which were to be part-se¬ 
curity (the other part being Faith) for the reception of 
the virtuous—the obedient observers of the Moral Law 
—into glory and blessedness hereafter. In vain has 
a purer Code of Morals been propounded to the world. 
In vain that simpler help to the formation of a 
Conscience which Jesus of Nazareth came to teach 
mankind. £ Do unto others that which ye would 
others should do unto you,’ is a receipt to make a 


Chap. VII.] 


THE ALPHA. 


321 


Conscience worthy of its meek and gentle Author. 
This recipe to make Morality, goes to the very root 
of the Selfishness which is the Key-stone of the 
present System. Shrouded with all the mysticism 
that Selfishness first invented for the purposes we 
have been unmasking, this moral maxim is nearly 
lost sight of; and whenever Religionists condescend 
to speak of it, it is only to explain away its integrity 

and usefulness.-Thus came Mystic Religion, the 

Virtues and the Moralities. And out of all these 
unrealities came the Literature, which, at the 
bidding of its selfish paymaster, took all these un¬ 
realities under its especial protection. Is it any 
wonder that our Literature is what we have found 
it to be,—next to useless as a guide to Truth? 
But our Science, which, to produce our Luxuries, 
had the same beginning, is a thing of far greater 
consequence. 

“Within this circle of Error we have been re¬ 
viewing, that which we call Good is not Good, but 
Evil modified. If we would obtain unmixed Good, 
we must abandon the Error that produces the Evil: 
for as long as we adhere to the Error, all our con¬ 
trivances, such as Property-protecting Law, Property- 
produced Morality, and Property-venerating Religion, 
will never be able to convert Evil into Good, or 
Wrong into Right: but we shall go on vexing our¬ 
selves by the useless struggle, and irreverently ac¬ 
cusing our beneficent Creator of being the Author 
of the Evils we ignorantly produce for ourselves, and 

Y 



322 


THE ALPHA. 


11* ART II. 


as ignorantly take all possible pains to entail on our 
posterity for ever. 

“ Some writers on the origin of Governments have 
supposed a Social Compact. The nature of this 
Compact will now be clearly perceived. In the first 
place, one portion of the Human family enjoyed by 
conquest all Rights. The other portion by reason of 
their weakness, had no Rights, but Duties only; 
which Duties were imposed on them by their con¬ 
querors. But as weakness is ever disposed to regain 
its lost position, if not by force, by Tact and Cun¬ 
ning, this state of Society is a state of War. The 
supposed Compact would be, therefore, a yielding by 
the Powerful of a Right of Property in their Labour 
to the Serfs, for the sake of peace and order; whilst 
the acceptance of these concessions by the Serfs, 
served in some degree to ameliorate the rigour of the 
Brute-Force Principle on themselves; and at the 
same time to make them parties to, and participators 
in, the Selfishness which, to the present hour, is the 
principle of action of all Communities by courtesy 
called Civilized. And out of this Compact, such as 
it is, have grown all the Interests; all the Trade, 
Commerce, Bargainings, Employments, Distinctions, 
Expedients, and organized turmoil (to say nothing 
of Religion and Law) which make up the all-absorb¬ 
ing business of Human life from the cradle to the 
grave. The Motive-power of all is Selfishness 
ameliorated by restrictions. Yet so dovetailed 


CllAP. VII.] 


THE ALPHA. 


323 


is this Selfishness with everything, that it is the very 
mainspring of these ameliorations too. 

“ In England at the present time Property is 
sacred : there is nothing more so. Hence, the Brute- 
Eorce principle is as dominant as ever. The life- 
germ of all Commerce was the Compact just alluded 
to, which secured to Serfdom a right of Property in 
the proceeds of its Labour. It cemented the Selfish 
Principle by giving every man an interest in it: it 
was the tub thrown out to the whale. Commerce 
has now, however, its Millionaires; and can reckon 
here in England its merchant Princes by thousands. It 
has grown into a Power almost equal to the Aristocracy 
of the Land ; and is even at this time contending 
with it for a supremacy in Selfishness. But look at 
the toil-stricken, want-stricken, crime-stricken millions 
who have almost ceased to have an interest in the 
struggle ! All, however, cling blindly to Selfishness : 
and this will probably make the barbaric system 
popular—yes, even popular, here in England, until 
England’s false greatness shall have reached its 
summit;—peradventure even to her fall! Yea, till 
her Selfishness shall have ended in her desolation : 
till her Beggary shall have eaten up her resources : 
till her Commerce shall be a by-word: till her 
Nobles shall have licked the dust: till gaunt Famine 
shall have decimated her population: till Misery 
shall have overtaken the remainder; and till this 
last mock-heroic Drama of barbaric Civilization shall 
y 2 


/ 


324 


THU ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


have been acted out, as another lesson for humanity; 
as another example for the instruction of an ignorant 
world. 

“Here, then, we have the incipiency of Crime; 
the origin of our idea of Justice ; the origin of the 
Moralities; the origin of Mystic Religion; the origin 
of the Virtues; the origin of Laws, both Criminal 
and Civil; the origin of Governments, Jurisprudence, 
Literature, the Sciences, and the Arts ; the origin of 
Commerce; the origin of the malevolent passions and 
feelings that poison existence, and disgrace humanity; 
and the origin of all the Manners and Customs which 
distinguish Civilized from Savage life. We have 
seen that the whole of them are of human invention : 
that they are without any special sanction of the 
Deity: that they arose out of Ignorance and Error: 
and that the whole of this immense superstructure of 
complicated antagonisms is false and unstable because 
it is based on the Animal Principle; and is conse¬ 
quently productive of that ‘ mingled web of Good and 
Evil,’—or rather, of Evil mitigated by restrictions, 
which inheres to every portion of our Doings as 
naturally as Form inheres to Substance, or Motion 
to the Earth. 

“ Here, too, is the origin of all those social 
Influences which pamper and encourage our Animal, 
and depress our Intellectual, Instincts : which compel 
men to do wrong systematically, and to bow down 
their Intellect before Legal Right which is based 
on abstract Wrong. Yes, on the very ugliest of 


Chap. VII.] 


THE ALPHA. 


325 


our Animal Instincts, Selfishness, is the false but 
showy superstructure of all Social Institutions 
raised! 

“ Morality, like Law, is also based on abstract 
Wrong ! And what is it at best ? It is an effort 
which the Oppressed Man is required to make—to 
love and respect his Oppressor. And when attained 
(if not the result of Ignorance, as it often is), what a 
noble, what a godlike conquest over his lower nature ! 
Hut how unspeakably mean is that man who can de¬ 
mand such a life-long sacrifice at the hands of his 
brother! 

“The Virtues, like Morality and Law, are the 
progeny of Wrong ! Those of endurance fall to the 
Poor man’s share,—Patience, Long-suffering, Forti¬ 
tude : and how unspeakably grand they are when 
practised by the Oppressed (as they constantly are) 
in lamb-like submission to the Oppressor ! Those of 
Action , the most beautiful of which are Benevolence 
and Mercy, are Luxuries which fall chiefly to the 
share of the Rich. And what are they? Nothing 
more than, for the most part, a forced but pitiful 
return , by the opulent, to those at whose expense the 
luxury, or the pride of being Benevolent and Merciful 
is obtained 1 

“ But to show how anomalous in their very nature 
these Moralities and Virtues are, as well as how 
omnipotent is the Selfishness on which Society is 
based, we need only to remember that a man dare 
not, in a multitude of cases, be as Virtuous, or as 


326 


THE ALPHA. 


[Tart II. 


Moral at he would wish to be : for if, in obedience to 
the Angel-dictates of his better nature he squander 
his worldly possessions in being Merciful or Benevo¬ 
lent, or in Doing unto others, as he would they 
should, in similar circumstances, do unto him; or if 
he neglect the opportunity to get rich, and thus 
beggar himself; either Bedlam, or a Workhouse, or 
a Jail, together with the contempt of the Well-to-do, 
and the Prudent, and the Proud; and the revilings 
of the Multitude, is the reward he has to expect for 
acting up to the standard of his noblest convictions. 
Supposing, then, that Morality and the Virtues were 
indeed what most people fancy them to be,—the 
beautiful children of Heaven, instead of what they 
are,—the clumsy contrivances of men, and the progeny 
of their Errors, is it any wonder that they are fre¬ 
quently at a discount P Did we not now know the 
reason, the wonder would be that they exist at all. 
They are the main props of the System which gene¬ 
rated them: seeing which, our wonder ends. But, 
with all our souls we repugn, we repudiate the sys¬ 
tem. Let Adversity come; let but our Trade and 
Commerce fail; and these props on which we lean so 
hopefully will bow before the blood-stained desolation 
of our hearths and homes, like reeds before the 
tempest. 

“ Why, even now—such is the strength of our 
Morality—a man will take the lives of a whole family 
to gain a shilling! A woman will destroy a husband 
and half a dozen sons for the sake of what she can 


Chap. VII.] 


THE ALPHA. 


327 


save out of the pittance allowed by their club to bury 
them ! a mere child, a female child, will calmly murder 
her mistress to procure the price of a new mantle in 
which to ape ‘ gentility V Even Genius itself, under 
the pressure of these influences, what will it not 
undertake for pay ? Is Religion, even amongst the 
Saints, the least barrier to dishonesty where anything 
worth the forfeiture of the Saintly seeming is to be 
got by the dereliction ? Will a Lawyer refuse a bad 
cause if a fee is to be fingered by espousing it ? From 
the highest to the lowest, has not Religion, has not 
Virtue, has not Honour, its price ? And why are all 
these things ? Because where Honour, where Virtue, 
where Religion begins or ends, no one knows ; and 

BECAUSE EVERY MAN’S OPINION-MADE CONSCIENCE 
HAS TO DRAW THE LINE OE DEMARCATION FOR IT¬ 
SELF. Is it any wonder that imperious Selfishness 
should draw this line to its own pecuniary advantage ? 
I do not blame the Men so much as I blame the Sys¬ 
tem. They but yield to motives that are too strong 
for Consciences which are composed of mere opinion. 
Do I blame the Lawyer for advocating every cause 
that comes? Assuredly not. I only blame the 
System which binds him to such advocacy. He must 
live : nor is it his business to prejudge cases even were 
it his interest to do so, which it manifestly is not. 
The Right or Wrong of a case is a very nice point to 
determine even according to our conventional mode of 
judging it. Well might he who is in the Wrong 
think that he is Right: for even in our Tribunals 


328 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


where the quaint-looking representative of our man¬ 
made Justice sits so gravely, the decision is a lottery. 
Take a case of the most flagrant crime. A man is 
charged with the murder of his wife. There is no 
direct evidence to convict him. The wife was poisoned. 
No one saw the poison administered; but the woman 
dies. A number of concurring circumstances tend to 
fix the criminality on the husband. He was known 
to have had poison in his possession. He had been 
heard to utter obscure threats against his wife. But, 
then the Law says there must be a reasonable Motive 
proved, without which it holds that a man cannot 
commit a crime. Motives are proved. The woman 
was a virago : the man’s home a hell; his life a misery. 
They often quarrelled : sometimes fought. It is further 
proved that the man lived on terms of pecidiar inti¬ 
macy with a young woman in the neighbourhood; 
and that soon after his wife’s death the guilty para¬ 
mours became man and wife. With this array of 
circumstantial evidence against him, is the man guilty ? 
The Jury who try him take all these circumstances into 
their consideration. They convict the accused : and 
the man is hanged. Why did the Jury convict him, 
and the Law doom him to an ignominious death? 
Because a reasonable motive , a very strong motive , had 
been proved to exist in confirmation of his guilt :—the 

MEANING OF WHICH IS, THAT THE DOZEN JURORS 
AGREE, THAT, IN SUCH A CASE, WITH SUCH MOTIVES 
OPERATING UPON EITHER OF THEMSELVES, EITHER OF 
THEMSELVES MUST HAVE COMMITTED THE ACT; THAT 


Chap. VIIJ 


THE ALPHA. 


329 


Human Nature must yteld to such a pressure of 
inciting motives. So, because a reasonable, a very 
strong, an irresistible motive had pressed him into 
Crime, they condemn him. And the Law hangs him for 
the same reason. It is still possible that, with all these 
circumstances against him, the man might have been 
altogether innocent. Such things have been. But what 
does this reliance on Motives mean ? Why, that every 

ACT MUST BE PRECEDED BY A MOTIVE ; AND THAT IF THE 
MOTIVE BE BUT IMPERIOUS ENOUGH, IT IS NOT IN 

Human Nature to withstand it. Then where is 
the Guilt? And in what consists the Justice which 
dooms the circumstance-made Criminal to irrevocable 
death ? Of such anomalies Society is altogether com¬ 
posed. And what wonder, when its very basis is 
wrong ? When Conscience is opinion-made; and 
when Justice is a sham ? 

“Not only is this Animal, or Brute-Eorce Principle, 
the cause of Crime; but in its operation it becomes 
the interest of the powerful classes of the Community 
not to exterminate it if they could; but partially only 
to repress, and partially to encourage it. Think of 
the army of 'respectability’ which battens upon 
Crime ! Nor are the real Evils which exist amongst 
us, and the real Vices of mankind, enough to satisfy 
the candidates for place and power without conjuring 
up a Principle of Evil, which they represent as 
making constant war on c fallen’ humanity ! But for 
the crimes and evil-doings which exist under this 
fosterage, our heroes of the £ Church Militant’ could 


330 


THE ALPHA. 


[rAKT II. 


have no plea for carrying on their phantom war against 
‘ Original Sin’; and might be either disbanded as 
conquerors of the ‘ Arch Enemy/ or, at least retire 
from the Service on half-pay. Men cannot afford this 
if they would : so that real Evils must be encouraged, 
at least to a certain extent, that these phantom evils 
might be pleaded, and the full pay procured ; and that 
all the other Crime-profiting Professions might flourish 
and abound amongst us. What are the whole of 
them but the damning evidences of our Criminality 
and Ignorance ? 

“ Let us imagine a purely intellectual being from 
the abode of Spirits made perfect by Intelligence 
visiting our Earth. What would be his wonder, (pre¬ 
suming the fact to be new to him,) to hear our 
nation boast of the immensity of talent constantly 
supported by us in affluence, not as the representative 
of our wisdom and worth, but as an evidence of our 
Ignorance and our Crimes? Would he not think 
us monstrously wicked, and as monstrously imper¬ 
vious to shame? Would it lessen his wonder to 
learn, that, with the exception of a few Poets (who 
have always been the pioneers of intellectual progress), 
and a few Philosophers (some of them not over wise), 
this is nearly all the proof w^e have of our progress 
in Knowdedge and Civilization after an experience 
of six thousand years! Yet these evidences of a 
nation’s delinquencies are ever the boast of its people, 
and the props and ornaments of its court. 

“We have seen how men of Intellect; men largely 


Chap. VII.] 


THE ALPHA. 


331 


endowed (as many of them are) with universal sym¬ 
pathy, but limited in their views by the superficial 
knowledge current amongst the educated, become 
animalized and shaped to selfishness by the dominant 
Principle. What, then, are the bulk of mankind, 
who either despise Intellect as something mechanical 
—something by which the nobodies have to earn their 
bread; or who are so barbarously ignorant that a 
clever fellow like Dickens is to them a god?—By 
the way, Dickens is a man who can pick out the 
Quilps from the Cherribles of society ; but he knows 
not how either the Quilps or the Cherribles are 
formed.—Well, how does the selfish system operate 
on those who fancy themselves to be above the con¬ 
dition of thinking men, and on those who are so 
much below it ? It converts them into mere animals 
who prey on each other. Our System not only 
permits, but enjoins it. We are animals with Intel¬ 
lects which cannot reach beyond the mysteries of 
money-getting ; and therefore sensual enjoyment is 
the Alpha and Omega of all. We, indeed, profess 
to be Immortals, and we profess to be Religious; 
but our Religion is material, and our faith herein is 
encouraged by the inducement of Reward. Yes, so 
much are we the creatures of this degrading principle, 
that w T e hold ourselves to be incapable of allegiance 
to Heaven without a Bible-proclaimed promise of 
reward ! But as the reward is distant, and the 
nature of it so little appreciable by our lucre-loving 
minds, it naturally follows that we should represent 


332 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


it to ourselves as attainable on very easy terms. 
Faith, and a few occasional Ceremonies and Obser¬ 
vances, and the prize is ours. And should it chance 
to turn out something less comfortable than a Judge- 
ship or a Bishopric, no matter : it will not have 
cost us much, and we have the satisfaction of 
knowing that our enjoyment here has been but little 
abridged to obtain it; and that, under the circum¬ 
stances, we have made the best bargain we could. 
Hence, we place but a light value on our Religion, 
and turn it, as we do our Virtues and our Morality, 
into worldly profit or sensual enjoyment, or as far as 
possible into both. On the same commercial prin¬ 
ciple we use the best labours of the Intellect for 
precisely the same end. Our reading is, for the most 
part, debased into Sensualism, present or prospective. 
Our Arts are sensual. Our Theatres, our Opera- 
houses, our Concert-halls, our Churches, our Meeting¬ 
houses are used and attended chiefly for sensual 
excitement and personal display by the majority of 
those who frequent them. Our Palaces, our Houses, 
our Equipages, our Dress, are merely so many phases 
of our Sensualism. 1 am ashamed to think that a 
multitude of our fellow-men are degraded into liveried 
symbols of our Sensualism also. But so it is. Every 
luxury that is paraded before the public eye, or in¬ 
dulged in in private, is unmitigated Sensuality; and 
the uneducated Poor are excited to crime, and as far 
as possible, converted into Sensualists, as much by 
the force of this degrading example as by the brutal 


CnAP. VII.] 


THE ALPHA. 


333 


ignorance they are bred in. It is no answer to say 
that if the Rich were not Sensual the Poor must 
starve. This is only preferring Sensuality to Libe¬ 
rality : Wrong to Right: inordinate accumulations, 
and the animalisms they engender, to a recognition 
of the true grandeur of the spiritual man, and the 
practice of Christian Love. But then, a Liberal 
distribution of the blessings and bounties of nature 
amongst all men would break up the system; and 
hence we make mountebanks of ourselves to preserve 
it! Where are the Father Matthews of Upper-class 
Intemperance ? Or is dram-drinking once a week 
more pernicious to Society than the eternal round of 
Sensualism indulged in by the Titled, and the Rich ; 
and aped, even to the fashion of it, by the ‘ respect¬ 
able, and the ‘ genteel’ ? Such, alas ! is Civilized 
Society. Such is Civilization amongst men who call 
themselves Christians eighteen centuries after the 
crucifixion of its Founder : — that true Son of 
the Eternal One, whose true Manhood preserved 
his ‘ respectability’ without the aid of an ‘ esta¬ 
blishment.’ 

“ Might, we have seen, is Right ; made .so by 
submission in the first place; and by general consent 
and participation afterwards. It is therefore, uni¬ 
versal in its influence and operation. And so it 
always has been during every period subsequent to 
the commencement of our written history, if not from 
the very first appearance of mankind on the theatre 
of the world. And operate it must, and its evils be 


334 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


borne with, until the general Intellect of nation after 
nation can be so formed and educated that the prin¬ 
ciple of Intelligence shall sap its foundations, conquer, 
and supersede it. By these means only can the 
Rich descend, and the Poor rise, to the level of 
Men. By these means only can the reign of Injus¬ 
tice be brought to an end, and universal Peace and 
Happiness become the earthly inheritance, as they 
are the heavenly birthright—for God himself has willed 
it so—of Man. 

“ All I can say is, that Mankind have the exchange 
in their power. And if the degraded masses who 
toil, and grumble at their condition, or starve, and 
impotently curse the supposed anthors of their 
misery, will not take the trouble to awaken their 
Intellect, and rely on it; they must toil on and 
grumble, starve on and impotently curse, and 
transmit the same dark patrimony to their children.” 

Here endeth the Extracts from the Papers of my 
deceased brother, Dionysius Lackland. Peace to 
his ashes ! May his spirit illuminate the world ! 

It was a beautiful night. Civilis proposed an 
adjournment to the garden. Suppose us on the 
greensward, pacing to and fro amid the moonbeams ; 
—the stars 

“ Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubims.” 

* * * * * * * 

Civilis. I can easily conceive, Randolph, what 


Chap. VII.] 


THE ALPHA. 


335 


delightful visions most frequently have flitted across 
the mind of Dionysius—just as those pale cloudlets 
swim across the moon—when he anticipated the 
distant Future which is to realize his hopes. He had 
not, however, any vivid hopes for England. I have 
enough of nationality yet left to wish that she may be 
found in the van of the progress-march which shall 
subvert the old barbaric principle of Force, and erect 
the principle of Mentality on its ruins. 

Randolph. I could wish so, too, Civilis. And 
although Commerce has become everything to Eng¬ 
land; although money-making has become a Science; 
although this same Science falsely asserts that the 
Selfishness, which is its principle, is not Selfishness, 
but Distribution; although these Adam Smith- 
fallacies are believed in ; and although the specious 
falsehood has been Cobdenized into the semblance of 
Truth, I have yet hopes for England. One of the 
most gratifying circumstances connected with the 
social results of the Animal Principle is the progress 
Mind has made—in England especially—in spite of 
the disadvantages it has had to encounter with a state 
of things that in the beginning scarcely recognised 
its existence. Notwithstanding, therefore, that Men¬ 
tality is still cherishing the Animal Principle, work¬ 
ing for Wealth ; doing its bidding; adding to its 
Selfish enjoyments; pandering to its Luxuriousness ; 
and upholding its pretensions to possession and 
power, it is still, by this very labour, acquiring 
strength for higher purposes; and whilst it seems 


336 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


to be most busy fastening its own chains, it is, in 
reality, effecting its liberation and asserting its right 
to the undisputed sovereignty of the world. 

Civilis. This is, indeed, a hopeful view to take of 
our prospects, my dear Randolph: but, Commerce, 
on which England’s present greatness chiefly de¬ 
pends, is the great fosterer of a Middle-class, happy- 
medium condition, which, according to our Moral 
Philosophers, is the very climax of all sublunary 
perfection. Despising alike, or affecting to despise, 
the grandeur they cannot reach, and the degradation 
at which their delicacy revolts, these our Moral 
Philosophers, preach up, and devoutly hug the “ happy 
medium.” This—for it is almost universally re¬ 
iterated—will be a great hindrance to the re¬ 
formation, 

Randolph. Yes, Civilis; but Truth is mightier 
than Moral Philosophy. 

“ A SUBSTITUTE SHINES BRIGHTLY AS A KING, 

“ Until a king be by ; and then his state 

“ Empties itself, as doth an inland brook 

“ Into the main of waters.” 

Shakspere. 

Between Truth and Falsehood, and between Right 
and Wrong, there is no medium. How came “ divine 
Philosophy” to miss this fact? Between two Evils 
there may be a medium; and it would seem to be 
the very acme of human wisdom to get midway from 
them both ! No, Civilis: when the bright Day-star 


Chap. TIL] 


THE ALPHA. 


337 


of Intelligence shall ascend from the horizon, the little 
Starlets will go out: but whilst Star-light is a blessing 
we will walk thankfully by its light. It might be 
ages yet before Star-light can be dispensed with. 
Nathless, I foresee the day. The deepest darkness 
immediately precedes the dawn. And if a conflict of 
opinions be darkness ; in England, in all Europe, it is 
dark. Our Sun, if it be a Sun, Civilis, will be long 
regarded as a Parelium : no matter: it will drink 
up this circumambient darkness : then will the mists 
through which our cumbrous Error looks magnificent, 
dissolve, and like——but the simile is hackneyed, and, 
perchance,—a note or two too high. 

Civilis. It has been less appropriately used ere 
now. 

Randolph. Probably so. But I conceive that 
Metaphor has done as much to blind as to enlighten 
men. It has stopped many a gap in argument which 
a Reason would have better occupied. I was about 
to say that the People must be educated: that they 
must educate themselves. There is no royal road, 
no democratic road, to the end I was glancing at, but 
this. We have seen that Self-education is a much 
more simple matter than men think it. The Eirst 
Truth, which shows the end and object of all Educa¬ 
tion, is soon learned. This step taken, the thing is 
done : for, awakened to the knowledge of what he is, 
and what he needs, even the poor miner who dwells a 
thousand feet below the sunbeams, will find time to 
think; and will think his way to Knowledge. “ The 


z 



338 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


People’s Charter,” rightly interpreted, is Knowledge. 
Let Chartists petition for Education. But in the 
mean time, and above all things, let them link hand 
to hand and heart to heart in one strong brotherhood 
of love—greybeards and boys—and mutually instruct 
each other. The “New Harmonies,” and the 
“ Socialism,” and the “ Communism” of well-mean¬ 
ing enthusiasts must merge into Education, before 
any general progress can be made towards the 
SPIRITUALISM which must be the Socialism 
of the future. The principle of Co-operation 
which is now beginning to be talked about, is right: 
but the people must be taught to what END it is to 
lead before co-operation can be made to do anything 
more than benefit one portion of the working-classes 
at the expense of the rest. This must be the 
RESULT OF ALL ASSOCIATION, IF IT BE NOT 
universal. Make it Universal; and either all is 
accomplished, or nothing is accomplished. Without 
the co-operation of the Employers, the co-operation of 
the Workmen, however general, would end in no¬ 
thing : if not universal, it must result in positive 
Evil somewhere. Suppose the Universal Co¬ 
operation of the Employers and Employed, the 
result is Communism ; but all is not accomplished : 
FOR with our present DESIRES, and our pre¬ 
sent modicum OF Knowledge, COMMUNISM 
WOULD BE STAGNATION: It would either 

SINK INTO PRIMITIVE BARBARISM, OR AGAIN RE¬ 
SULT in Might being the arbiter of Right. 


Chap. VII. 1 


THE ALPHA. 


389 


No: without an infinitely higher motive than either 
our Knowledge or our Religion supplies us with at 
present, Communism would be found to be, like the 
golden age of the Poets, a fable; or, like their Poly¬ 
phemus, a huge monstrosity. LET US, HOW¬ 
EVER, CO-OPERATE EOR THE ATTAINMENT 
OE INTELLIGENCE. Let us be Spiritualists 
through Knowledge: not through Affectation , or 
Hope, or Fear, but through Knowledge, and all 
else that is desirable will come. 

I am far from thinking that Governments will 
attend to my suggestions; and the more especially if 
they perceive that the results I predicate therefrom 
would follow their adoption. But, no matter. The 
duty of all Governments is to see that all the people 
get a Secular Education,—a Religious one—when 
Secular Education is seen to be synonymous with 
Religion. Never heed the classics. Leave these to 
the dreamers who think that poring over the pages of 
those who lived and thought for past ages, is the 
best way to live and think for our own. Never heed 
Latin and Greek; leave them to be the tests of 
candidateship for students in “Divinity.” Never 
heed modern languages (except as a means of inter¬ 
national amity) until contemporaneous nations are 
wiser than ourselves. If, however, Genius should in¬ 
vent an universal Language, teach them this. At 
any rate, teach them their own language. Teach 
them the elements of the Sciences. Teach them to 
think. Teach them—but in a nobler sense than that 
z 2 


340 


THE ALPHA. 


[ Part II. 


in which the poet uses the expression—“ teach them 
they are Men.” Such an Education will enable 
them to distinguish Truth from Ealsehood; Right 
from Wrong; and to pick their way to real Know¬ 
ledge through that mass of Literature, which, without 
such aid will confuse rather than enlighten their 
understandings. Thus to Educate the People is the 
first duty of a State. What I mean by this is, that 
the State should secure to the people the time, the 
opportunity, and the means, to get this Education ; 
and, at first, to go, if necessary, into the “ highways 
and hedges,” and compel the young Calibans to come 
in. The Act oe Education must be the people’s 
own. All Education is Self-education, although those 
who have acquired splendid nothings at College will 
not have it so. Before the mind can acquire any 
truth, it must take the trouble to think, and to per¬ 
ceive it to be truth: for thus only can the truth 
become its own. If Governments will do this, not 
neglecting at the same time to get the same Educa¬ 
tion for themselves, all will have been accomplished. 
“Out of the multitude of Counsellors cometh wisdom.” 
And the wisdom thus generated will see the 

WAY TO REMODEL OUR SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS ON A 

rational plan. What those Institutions will be it 
is needless to discuss. It is quite certain they will 
be very different from the present. The Principle 
will be changed. Might will be Right no longer. 
If Property should still be recognised, the laws 
affecting it will not be Cumulative, but Distributive. 


Chap. VII.] 


THE ALPHA. 


341 


There will be but little luxurious Superfluity; and 
no Want. No ostentatious Benevolence; and no 
abandonment of Self-respect. There will be neither 
Alms-givers, nor Beggars. Few will be slothful, and 
none will be overtasked. “ Call no man master” will 
then be understood without a Commentary; and 
Christian kindness will be an Instinct rather than a 
Law. 

Civilis. May that blessed time come quickly, 
Randolph! But what will the Sneerers, and the 
habitual Jesters of Society, say to all this ? 

Randolph. These latter geniuses will do what 
Jesters are constantly doing, Civilis, they will per¬ 
petrate a bad joke, at a wrong time, and to no 
purpose. 

Civilis. The Sneerers in “high places,” will say 
that the adoption of universal Education on such a 
plan would inevitably end in that form of Com¬ 
munism you have been repudiating. 

Randolph. No matter, Civilis. Error is not 
eternal: and Prejudices will die out. Enough for 

US TO KNOW THAT IF ANYTHING CAN RID THE WORLD 

of Evil, it is the destruction of the Ignorance 

THAT GENERATED IT; AND THE SYSTEM THAT EN¬ 
COURAGES its growth. But a nation’s Intelligence, 
especially against such obstacles as under the most 
favourable circumstances will have to be overcome, 
will be of slow development; and the fine ladies 
and gentlemen whose delicate sensitiveness would 
be shocked at the bare idea of equality and promiscuous 


342 


THE ALPHA. 


:pau T ii. 


intercommunion with their fellows, will have slept per¬ 
haps many ages in their monument-covered graves 
before such a state of things is likely to come to pass. 
But, for their present satisfaction, as regards their 
descendants, let them remember that Education will 
do for “ plebeians” all that it has done for them : and 
perhaps more. Let them bear in mind that their 
own Ancestors were boors, and plebeians, and rough 
diamonds very rough diamonds indeed, some of 
them! Let them be assured that any change which 
may be produced by Education, will be an elevation 
in manners, intelligence, and external condition, of 
those who are degraded in all things now. Even in 
the matter of personal Beauty—for Beauty, rightly 
understood, is that phasis or form of matter through 
which, in all things, we perceive Intelligence—even, 
then, in the circumstance of personal Beauty, a great 
change for the better will inevitably take place. Not 
that the labouring classes are at present more de¬ 
ficient in all that passes for beauty than their more 
aristocratic brothers and sisters. But when their fine 
frames shall not be deformed by over-toil; and when 
their fine faces shall beam with the Soul’s Intelligence, 
it will be a great change from the stupid idiotcy, and 
crime-distorted countenances which so frequently 
make one’s heart ache now. Let them remember 
these things: and, although, under a rational system, 
their posterity will have fewer superfluities than are 
indulged in at present, they will need fewer: for 
Sensuality will be out of fashion; and the perfumed 


Chap. VII.] 


THE ALPHA. 


343 


prejudices which now exist will have been put off 
with the Ignorance that bred, and the Pride that 
nurtured them. If the lower classes have much to 
learn, the upper classes have much to unlearn; and 
all will be the better, and the happier for the 
change. 

Civilis. This is no impossible, physical Utopia, 
my dear Randolph; but an Intellectual Eden as 
attainable as it is desirable and delightful. Listening 
to your voice in the calm stillness of this pleasant 
night, whilst the quiet stars and the motionless and 
odorous air seem to have been listening too, how have 
I wished that the men whose chance of entering 
Heaven was once likened to a camel’s impossible 
passage through a needle’s eye, had but been here 
to hear you ! Methinks, the injunction, “ Sell all 
that thou hast, and give it to the Poor, and follow 
me,” would not have been addressed in vain to all of 
them. 

Randolph. I hope it would not: but your Mind, 
Civilis, is very susceptible of poetical impressions, and 
the peculiar fitness of the time and place has pre¬ 
disposed it to receive them. There is much in 
Fitness. You know what Portia says :— 

“ The crow doth sing as sweetly as the lark, 

“ When neither is attended ; and I think 
“The nightingale, if she should sing by day, 
“When every goose is cackling, would be thought 

“ NO BETTER A MUSICIAN THAN THE WREN.” 

Fitness, Civilis, that is, everything Right, well-timed, 


344 


THE ALPHA. 


[Pabt II. 


and rightly placed, is the very perfection of all 
Art. In the present case the fitness was an accident. 

Civilis. This reminds me of what you just now 
said of Beauty;—that rightly understood, it is that 
phasis or form of matter, through which, in all things, 
we perceive Intelligence. Applied to the Human 
Countenance the definition struck me as being ex¬ 
cellent : for whilst there is a great diversity of opinion 
regarding Bonn, all own the magic influence of an In¬ 
telligent Expression : but how does it apply to the 
lower Animals, and things inanimate which have no 
Intelligence ? 

Randolph. I meant, Civilis, a form, or phasis, or 
if you prefer it, an expression, which is, in all things, 
the result of Intelligence ;— in Man, the in-dwelling 
Soul, which is Intelligence:— in things inanimate, 
the in-dwelling evidence of Design, which also is In¬ 
telligence. In all the works of Deity—Man of course 
included, we recognise the Intelligence of their 
Almighty Author. The more we know of them, the 
more we perceive the perfect adaptation of means to 
an end exemplified in their formation. Hence Beauty, 
rightly understood, is only a fonder, or more familiar 
name for the perfection of Design in things; which 
Design is, of course, the result of Intelligence. The 
peculiar phasis or form of a thing, in other words, its 
peculiar expression—is its peculiar beauty. In the 
Human Countenance, through the expression of the 
external form, and in the eye, we perceive the Intelli¬ 
gence of the in-dwelling Soul: and of this expression, 


Chap. VII.] 


THE ALPHA. 


345 


Man himself—the individual man in whom we per¬ 
ceive it—may be truly said to be the Author ; and all 
rightly-perceiving minds esteem and honour it ac¬ 
cordingly. It is the evidence of power over means 

BY WHICH HUMANITY CAN DO ALL IT HAS TO DO. 

Hence, the Beauty of any of its doings must consist 
in the most perfect adaptation of the means at its dis¬ 
posal, to great and worthy ends. Every work Hu¬ 
manity undertakes to do ought to be in aid of the 
great work of its existence ; namely, the perfection of 
the Soul’s Intelligence. Thus, our Arts, and our Lite¬ 
rature, should not have a tendency to degrade, to cari¬ 
cature, or to depress Human Nature; but to elevate 
and ennoble it. All Art is false Art—false as to its 
object, which has this degrading tendency. In like 

MANNER, ALL OUR SOCIAL ARRANGEMENTS, OUR LAWS, 

and Governments, should be the most perfect 

ADAPTATION OF THE MEANS AT OUR DISPOSAL, TO THE 
ATTAINMENT OF THAT HAPPINESS FOR ALL, WITHOUT 
FAVOUR OR EXCEPTION, WHICH IS THE END AND PUR¬ 
POSE of Human existence. That on Earth, Mankind 
will ever attain to a full perfection of that Intelligence 
which confers anything like perfect Happiness, is, no 
doubt impossible; but this is the end to aim at : 
and, to aim at it with any chance of success, we must 
get rid of our brute-force principle in Governments, 
and model our Social Institutions on that plan, 
whatever it might prove to be, that shall be found 
most conducive to the true wants, mental and physical, 
of all its members. We have seen that the end 


346 


THE ALPHA. 


[Paut ii. 


which is at present aimed at is everywhere the enjoy¬ 
ment by a few of that happiness which wealth is sup¬ 
posed to give; and the selfish or brute-force principle 
is a fit and proper means for its attainment. If the mul¬ 
titude were not ignorant, so ignorant as to have fixed 
on the same animal enjoyments for themselves; and 
that , without much chance of obtaining them, this 
principle must have exploded long ago. Wealth will 
be always a lottery with a hundred, perchance a 
thousand blanks to one prize: and as long as all 
press eagerly and selfishly for the prizes, every one 
who obtains a blank deserves the disappointment he 
experiences: whilst those who get the prizes are not 
to be pitied if they find, as they always do, that even 
the empty enjoyment of possession has been antici¬ 
pated in the fervour of pursuit. Selfishness is the 
mainspring of the present System: Christian Love of 
that which should supersede it. The first is costly, 
cruel, and inefficient. The second is cheap, benig¬ 
nant, and effective. That is suited to men degene¬ 
rated into brutishness. This, to men who would 
depress the brute portion of their nature, and develope 
the angelic. The one is stationary. The other is 
progressive. The selfish System is a system of expe¬ 
dients and makeshifts, leading to all that is hateful 
and unholy. The Christian, or rational System, is 
the realization of all that is desirable, of all that is 
attainable on Earth. Let mankind make their 
election. 

Civilis. Set the whole Truth before mankind, my 


Chap. VII.] 


THE ALPHA. 


347 


dear Randolph, as convincingly as you have set it 
before me; and they will make their election;— 
that is, the millions will ; and that soon ; and 
their election will be right. Let “ Redemption So¬ 
cieties’ look to it. Let “ Working-men’s Associa¬ 
tions” look to it. Let “ Land Societies” look to it. 
Let Chartists, and Communists, and Socialists look 
to it. Let Poverty and Slavery, whether black or 
white, here and elsewhere, comprehend the Truth— 
and Reformation will be rather a necessity 
than a choice. It is easy now to perceive how 
the National Debt will be liquidated, and no man be 
a loser. 

Randolph. Ay, Civilis; and how England might 
give back to neighbouring nations, — and with in¬ 
terest, too — the unfledged Liberty she helped to 
crush when she wantonly incurred this debt. What 
you say about Societies and Associations of Working¬ 
men possessing themselves of this Truth is important, 
and means must be taken to help them to the know¬ 
ledge : for assuredly, till Intellect can bring about 
the Millennium, the Millennium will not come. 
Mobs, Violence, Treasons, Revolutions, would but 
retard, nay, indefinitely postpone the period of its 
arrival. Man must work out his own Redemption. 
Redeemed he is already who knows the Truth. It 
is not now in the power of Governments, Potentates, 
and Kings much to hinder, or much to accelerate 
the march of Mind. The Indigent must remain the 
helpless and degraded things they are until they get 


348 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


enlightenment. Rebel they must not, nor despair. 
The fiction we call Justice must live out its time. 
We cannot kill it. It is proof against Sedition’s 
sword and spear; because, spurious though it is, it 
is the nearest approximation to abstract Justice 
for which the Intelligence of the world is at present 
fitted. It is the tiny star which cheers our night, 
and must shine on till the Sun of perfect Truth shall 
extinguish it by its superior brightness. 

Civilis. And extinguish it, it will, my dear Ran¬ 
dolph.—I am truly happy.—I have a steady view of 
all the operations and results of the Intellectual 
Principle.—You have schooled me into Happiness; 
not fitful, but abiding.—I see the way to Universal 
Peace without the aid of Peace Societies : and to the 
extinction of Slavery without much addition to that 
large expenditure of breath and bathos that has been 
so all but uselessly exhausted on the subject. We 
shall see, however, or I am much mistaken, Ran¬ 
dolph, that these Anti-slavery and Peace-Society- 
Men have but few amongst them, who, seeing the 
way, will not renounce the work. The majority 
of them are mere Sentimentalists who would prefer 
to whine over imaginary miseries,—or miseries so 
far removed from the vicinity of their counting-houses 

as to have all the charms of imaginary ones,-than 

to set their hands to the extinction of the evils which 
produce them. Show them that to accumulate pri¬ 
vate Property—that to enrich themselves so as to 



Chap. VII.] 


THE ALPHA. 


349 


afford to be philanthropic—is to place millions of 
their fellow-creatures in that abject condition that it 
is almost, nay quite— a mercy to them to enslave 
them : show them that to monopolise the Earth and 
the Eruits thereof is the cause of Slavery : show 
them that to hold a Property in man is not one whit 
more venial than to hold a property in the Soil— 
which is the very Life of a man—his absolute Exist¬ 
ence—which they have no more Right to molest, or 
shorten, or endanger, or warp to their own selfish 
purposes, than they have to manacle his limbs and 
make a Slave of him,— show them this, and you 
will cure them of their philanthropy ! Show the 
Peace-Society-Men that as long as there is gross 
Injustice in the world there must be war ; and 
the roofs of their Congress-Halls will never more 
echo back their sentimental watchword—“ Peace !” 
The Soul-Instincts of these men are right enough; 
but their Wealth will bind them to the Selfish Prin¬ 
ciple : they are Slaves of an abstraction—fettered to 
an Idea—“ Respectability.” How well He knew 
the strength of this Idea who said that “ it is easier 
for a Camel to pass through a needle’s eye than for a 

Rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven !”-The 

memory of this night, my dear Randolph, and of all 
our former communings, will dwell with me for ever. 
You have awakened my soul to the enjoyment of a 
new existence. I will endeavour to repay your more 
than brotherly affection by awakening, or by the 


350 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


attempt to awaken, in other minds the same abiding 

and exalted Happiness.-Life is brief: or as 

Shakspere so beautifully expresses it,— 

“ The time of life is short : 

“ To SPEND THAT SHORTNESS BASELY WERE TOO 
LONG 

“ If life did ride upon a dial’s point, 

“ Still ending at the arrival of an hour.” 

We partook of a slight refection together: talked 
an hour or two of the unapproachable Genius of the 
Bard of Avon, and parted about midnight. 

How little I have profited by the unobtrusive 
Modesty of the world’s greatest Bard and best 
Philosopher, the reader will perceive without any 
prompting of mine. But it will, I hope, be seen also 
that zeal in the cause of Truth—zeal resulting from 
a Conviction too absolute to permit the mere affec¬ 
tation of modesty—has been the sole cause of the 
otherwise indefensible and unseemly difference. 



Chap. VIII. 1 


THE ALPHA. 


351 


CHAPTER VIII. 

CONCLUSION. 

The intelligent reader who has thus far accompanied 
me will not have failed to perceive that the auto¬ 
biographical portion of this little work may be a 
fiction; and mere inventions the Revelation and 
the Dreams. And whilst it is due to Truth to admit 
the latter half of the fact, it is unnecessary to apolo¬ 
gize for a deception, the object of which is so well 
understood. It is rather to be regretted that the 
practice is so frequently justified by the necessity. 
Whether the necessity existed in the present case the 
reader will judge. He will also judge whether the 
object gained be worthy of the circuitous means 
employed for its achievement. If we have accom¬ 
plished anything, we have laid the foundation of a 
new Philosophy, which at some future period of the 
world will be the world’s Religion. We have not 
broached a new Theory. We have not come before 
the world with a new System of Opinions ; but with 
a new Truth. It is a verity: it is The Truth; or it 
is nothing. We shall be accused of Rationalism ! 
We shall be able to endure the taunt. We shall 
be denounced as Levellers. We plead guilty to 
“ the soft impeachment.” We shall be accused 
of Pride. It will not much disturb our equanimity. 
If the first accusation be just (and we own it!), it 
follows that we are not fools: in this case, our Pride, 
and our Levelling propensities cannot be set down 
to the account of our folly; whilst the converse of 
this, not only may, but must be true of those who, 


352 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


by implication, pride themselves on not being ra¬ 
tional. But do religionists really despise Reason ? 
or do they only pretend to despise it ? Deny any of 
their dogmas, they will instantly inundate us with 
reasons (such as they are) in support of them. 
Every church; the professors of every system of 
faith, will, as a last resource, meet us with a reason 
such as this:—“ The Bible,” or " The Koran,” or 
“ The Zend-avesta, says so, therefore it is right.” 
Deny the genuineness of any of these; and we have 
the reasons which induce the believers in them to 
declare them genuine. If our Reason is to decide 
whether the Koran be a revelation from God to Man, 
it may also decide on the reasonableness of any 
of the facts or dogmas promulgated therein, or founded 
on it; as, for instance, whether Mahomet was a Pro¬ 
phet, or an Impostor, or a sagacious Reformer, 
who to do mankind a service, resorted to impos¬ 
ture. If reason may and must decide on any of 
these facts or particulars, it not only may, but 
must decide on all. There is no doubt but 
all the more gross and palpably-absurd doctrines of 
the Church of England, would be rooted out, but that 
our priesthood naturally ask themselves this question:— 
“ What will the people say, the thinking, far-seeing 
people of England in this the Nineteenth Century? 
We reasoned ourselves away from Rome, and from 
some of her absurdities; but if we should reason away 
a few more of them, will not the Laity reason too P 
and where will it all stop ?” Hence nothing is done. 
The priesthood are wrong in this determination, Pro¬ 
testantism must go forward, or return. As a Church 
which reasoned itself into being, it must (inde¬ 
pendently of the influence that any higher Truth may 
have upon its destinies)—it must reason itself onwards, 
or inevitably fall. The right of private judgment is 
the corner-stone of Protestantism. Remove it, and the 


Cuap. VIII.] 


THE ALPHA. 


353 


blighting doctrines of the Church of Rome will be 
again predominant, and people of all grades and con¬ 
ditions will become once more the passive instruments 
of a grasping Priesthood;—the mere creatures of a 
man who not only claims a right of judgment for 
himself, but absolute infallibility : whilst, with an 
arrogance as presumptuous as it is absurd, he says to 
the four hundred millions of his fellow-men, “you have 
no such right, neither have you the capacity to judge 
concerning one tittle as to the efficacy of the formulas 
on which the Salvation of your Souls depend. I am 
the appointed one. I am God’s vicegerent here on 
Earth. Leave all to me.” Eor three hundred years 
we have differed with this mitred mountebank. We 
have claimed and exercised a right of judgment for 
ourselves. We have dared to be Rationalists 
in Religion. And yet the sun has shone upon us 
still: the Moon and Stars have smiled and twinkled 
over us as of yore : the dews and rain have continued 
to descend on our fields and pastures ; and the seed¬ 
time, and the harvest-time have come and gone, 
yielding us their usual abundance. The charge of 
Rationalism, therefore, be it preferred by whom it may, 
is not a very grave charge. It may be borne: and ive 
have the courage to bear it. We should be burned if 
Romanists had their way. But Romanists will not 
have their way, and we shall escape the martyrdom. 

But we are Levellers ! Yes : inasmuch as we 
are the propagandists of a Levelling Principle we are 
constrained to plead guilty to the charge. But we are 
merely “ Utterers” of the Principle; not its Authors 
or contrivers. We, moreover, came by it honestly. 
We discovered it,—not amongst the dusty tomes of 
antiquity, the learned lumber of centuries; but in a 
previously unheeded corner of our own mind. It is 
older than the hills. It has existed through the long 
night of a past Eternity: it will continue to exist 
2 A 


354 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


through the eternity of day that is to come. We are 
but the fortunate finders of a hidden treasure, the 
which we stumbled upon by accident; but, perceiving 
its value, we have taken some pains to lay it in a pre¬ 
sentable form before the world. But let us drop 
unseemly metaphor. The Principle is either true, or 
false. If false, its falsehood has but to be shown, and 
its influence ceases; or rather it has no influence. 
But, if true, and if our deductions and inferences there¬ 
from prove logical, it will not much aid the defenders 
of Selfishness and Error to affix on us, its humble 
propagandists, the anathematizing epithet of Levellers. 
This will no more deprive the Principle of its influence, 
or stop the course of reformation, than to name the 
Sun a snowball would diminish the fertilizing in¬ 
fluence of its beams. Neither the Principle, nor 
whatever is true in the minor principles we have 
deduced therefrom, is ours : for Truth is of God, 
and cannot originate with Man; nor, when once 
perceived, can man resist the subtle progress of its 
influence, but whithersoever it leads him he must go. 
It has led us to write a book. 

For the convenience of Critics who would gainsay 
our conclusions, we will reduce the leading Principles 
of our Philosophy into two groups of Propositions. 
First. 

That The Principle oe Principles, the First 
Cause of all things, is Intelligence : hence, 
the Deity is an Intelligent Principle hav¬ 
ing INFINITE FORE-KNOWLEDGE : HENCE ALSO, 
WHATEVER IS CONSISTENT WITH THE INFINITUDE 

of the Fore-knowledge of the Deity is 
True : on the other hand, whatever is in¬ 
consistent THEREWITH, IS NECESSARILY FALSE. 
Secondly. 

That The Human Soul is an Intelligent Prin¬ 
ciple, capable of Knowledge, and needing 


Chap. VIII.] 


THE ALPHA. 


355 


Knowledge : that Knowledge is ascertained 
Truth : that Conscience is the Soul’s re¬ 
corded Knowledge : that Knowledge (as 

FAR AS IT IS TRULY ASCERTAINED, AND ALL IRRA¬ 
TIONAL influences apart) compels Right 
SENTIMENTS AND RlGHT ACTIONS : THAT RlGHT 

sentiments and Right actions, constitute 
Religion : that Religion supersedes the 

CONVENTIONAL MAKESHIFTS CALLED THE MORALI¬ 
TIES and the Virtues, and tends constantly 
to that Intellectual Perfection, and results 

NECESSARILY IN THAT HAPPINESS, WHICH IS THE 
END AND PURPOSE OF THE Soul’s EXISTENCE. 

If these , our fundamental Principles, are not true , 
then all our inferences are Errors ; and we recant 
them here. But if true, they will ultimately over¬ 
come all opposition; level all conventional distinctions; 
remove all unjust Laws; correct all absurd notions; 
reform all ridiculous customs; sweep away all super¬ 
stitions ; alter the fabric of all society; change the 
whole business and objects of humanity; and silently 
and peacefully regenerate the world. 

We shall defend our Pride when those who know 
us better than we know ourselves have told us what 
it is. We certainly deny that “ the heart is deceitful 
above all things, and desperately wicked.” We deny 
it, as we deny Tran substantiation, Regeneration by 
baptism, and the Infallibility of the Pope,—because 
our reason revolts at such gross profanity. If this 
is Pride, we at once plead guilty to the charge: for 
our pride instructs us that every human form en¬ 
shrines an angel: it admonishes us not to treat our 
fellow-men as slaves, but to cherish them as brethren : 
not to set ourselves above them, and “ clespitefully 
use them,” but to regard them as our equals in 
nature; to love them as we love ourselves; and if 
we happen to have outstripped any of them in the 

2 a 2 


356 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


pursuit of the one thing needful, Knowledge, to 
divide it with them. The Angel is awakened within 
us, and we have no wish, no motive to be selfish. 
The good we have we are anxious to divide with 
them. This is not the pride of Predestinarianism; 
the pride of the “ Elect”; the pride of False Humi¬ 
lity ; the pride of Self-righteousness; the pride of 
Saintship; nor the pride of Place, and Power, and 
False Pretensions. There is, however, a Spice of 
the Pharisee in us: and whilst we own it, we regret 
it. But, be it remembered that, to do right is a 
tacit condemnation of those who do wrong. And 
how are scribes to correct folly but by denouncing 
it ? or to denounce it, but (through implication,) by 
beslavering themselves with praise? If, however, 
there be no hypocrisy in our Phariseeism there is not 
much turpitude in avowing it: what there is of the 
inherent stain we will leave to be dealt with by our 
Censors, who if they should not find a flaw in our 
arguments, will be glad (some of them) to find 
a speck in our character so invitingly open to 
assault. 

Having thus squared our accounts with the pro¬ 
fessional Champions of Error, we will lay aside the 
pompous style of the plural number; drop the grandi- 
loquous We; which, by the way, is not one whit 
less egotistical than the other: it, moreover, sits 
awkwardly on an earnest man, is frequently incon¬ 
venient, and rarely honest. 

The Lovers of their Species, and the Friends of 
Truth, are many. I will suppose thee, my dear 
Reader, to be one of them. Were it not so, the 
chances are we should have parted by the way. As 
a philosophical treatise, into which it was my purpose 
at the outset to beguile thee, I fear my book may 
prove deficient in some essential particulars : but as a 
guide to Truth and Happiness, I have hopes that it 


Chap. VIII.] 


THE ALPHA. 


357 


will not have disappointed thy most sanguine ex¬ 
pectations. Thou wilt no longer wonder that in early 
life my wealth failed to procure that happiness for 
myself, which it has been my object, by this relation 
of my experiences, to confer on thee: nor will it now 
surprise thee that, in after life, with love for all my 
Species in my Soul, I found no happiness in the 
philanthropic use of wealth, seeing that to dissipate it 
in charity could purchase them no permanent ad¬ 
vantage. Thou hast seen whence my Happiness came, 
and knowest what it is. We now know that in 
Food; in Wine; in sumptuous feastings; in luxurious 
homes; in liveried human appendages, equipages, 
dress; in pleasures, pastimes, excitements, Sports; in 
Pictures, Books; in Power and Possessions, however 
unlimited their amount, not even Selfishness ever yet 
found Happiness, but only the daily and hourly means 
of dissipating life, and of silencing the promptings of 
the crucified and defrauded Soul. To mere Selfishness, 
therefore, Life has always proved the truthfulness of 
the luxurious Solomon's exclamation—the descriptive 
epiphonema of his grandeur—“ All is Vanity!” 
Together, my dear Reader, we have unravelled the 
“ tangled yarn" of human life : we have solved the great 
enigma. We have lifted the veil of its mysteriousness, 
and have found Deformity: we have passed through 
the intertangled mazes of this deformity and have 
recognised eternal “Beauty." Like Shadrach, Meshech, 
and Abednego, hand in hand with the Angel Truth, 
we have walked through the burning fiery furnace of 
error-created Evil, and the smell of fire has not touched 
our garments : we have talked face to face with Deity 
and have not been consumed. We know, therefore, 
what Solomon did not know, namely, why selfish 
grandeur is “ all Vanity." The truth is a great truth : 
but have men believed it P or has it been with all 
others as it was with Solomon,—the half-consoling 


358 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


sentiment of disappointed age P—The wisdom of the 
old, which youth derides, and no man puts his faith in 
till he must ? The Truth is a great truth: but it was 
announced, not proved : Look round the world : has 
the desire for this false grandeur, this deceptive 
happiness, abated a single tittle? The reason is 
obvious. Men do not necessarily act on another’s 
dictum; nor should they; but only on their own 
convictions. Were it otherwise, what to us were 
Truth ? What to us were the God of Truth ? In this 
beneficent Principle of our nature, I see the eman¬ 
cipation of the human mind from the thraldom of 
Opinion ; the possible subjugation of all Evil; and the 
regeneration of the entire world! Every Pact discovered 
by Science compels us to act in strict conformity with 
our knowledge. We know that the whole is greater 
than a part, and we cannot act as though we believed 
the contrary. It is a Law of our Intellectual nature, 
and we must obey it. 

Placed in the midst of the existences of which 
Natural History and the Physical Sciences take cogni¬ 
zance, it becomes our chief business to acquaint our¬ 
selves with all the facts and phenomena they place 
within our reach. Here is the great storehouse of 
Truth. It is the ability to possess ourselves of these 
truths, to investigate, and comprehend them, that so 
pre-eminently distinguishes the human family from all 
the other works of the Deity by which we are sur¬ 
rounded. Numerous indeed are the facts which the 
patient and laborious investigators in this fruitful field 
of knowledge have discovered and recorded. But 
much as has been accomplished, very much remains 
to do. It is to Science, that, after a thorough knoAV- 
ledge of ourselves, our rights, and duties, Ave must 
chiefly look for that knowledge which enlarges and 
elevates the Soul; which opens to us a clearer com¬ 
prehension of the LaAvs by which the Universe is 


Chap. Till.] 


THE ALPHA. 


359 


sustained; and which links us in a closer communion 
with our common God. 

The source of all unhappiness is Doubt : the 
source of doubt is Ignorance. To Ignorance every¬ 
thing is a Mystery,—even its own mischievous doings 
and ridiculous imaginings; and in all ages “ Religion” 
has been the great Master-Mystery of them all. The 
ally, or master of all Civil Government, it has ruled 
the world by its occult mysteriousness. The true 
religious feeling, which at all times has been as 
universal as the human race, has been made the basis 
of every system that has obtained credence amongst 
men, and exercised an influence over them. But what 
Falsehood has been fastened on this feeling, and by 
what knavery the machinery of the various systems 
has been worked, let their histories tell. Buddhism, 
Druidism, Polytheism, all the ancient Systems were 
Mysteries managed by the Pew for the subjugation and 
government of the Many; Judaism, Mahomedanism, 
and I am compelled to add, Christianism, not ex¬ 
cepted. As these were, or as they are, aids and 
instruments of Civil Government, exercising their 
influence over Ignorance, I grant the necessity for the 
fraud. But how much better were it to enlighten 
Ignorance than merely to govern it! As long, how¬ 
ever, as the Millions remain ignorant, these “ pious” 
frauds must be submitted to; especially as long as 
that ignorance exists which makes a man a mystery 
to himself, and leaves him at the mercy of every sanc¬ 
timonious pretender. 

However ignorant we may be in other matters, to 
know what we are, and what is the beneficent pur¬ 
pose of our being, is, of itself, an unspeakable Happi¬ 
ness ; whilst to want this knowledge, or to entertain 
doubts respecting it, is to be miserable as frequently 
as we suffer ourselves to reflect on the mysterious and 
disheartening subject. It is this universal Doubt on 


360 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 


this all-important matter, that causes all the evils we 
suffer, and all the mental misery which attends them. 
It is this Doubt which makes self so uninviting a 
study, nay, the very last to which even thoughtful 
men devote themselves; hence it is the one of all 
others which hundreds of millions of our fellow-beings 
systematically and totally neglect. Our investigations, 
my dear Reader, have relieved us from this pitiable, 
non-progressive state of uncertainty and doubt. We 
may lack other knowledge, and thence erring, may 
have to pay the penalty of our ignorance in disappoint¬ 
ment, and difficulty, and pain: but we can never be 
unhappy. Our very errors will teach us wisdom : 
and every new Truth we thus discover will become 
a permanent addition to our Happiness. The Know¬ 
ledge we have, is the key to all other knowledge,— 
to every mental truth, and perhaps to every physical 
truth beyond it. 

Thou hast seen, my dear Reader, that all within 
thee that constitutes the Man is angelic. Thou hast 
seen that it is not thy knowledge which brings thee 
evil, but thy ignorance alone: that thou art an 
erring creature, not a sinful one: that the ever¬ 
present Providence of the Deity is pure Beneficence : 
that it is not the variable providence of the day, but 
the never-varying providence of changeless purposes 
and laws, the same to-day, to-morrow, and for ever : 
that in these laws and purposes there are no contra¬ 
dictions or anomalies, but that the whole are as 
simple as they are beneficent, and as comprehensible, 
even to humanity, as they are wise. Thou hast seen 
that To Know is the only purpose and object of the 
Intelligent Principle; and that the Desire to 
Know is thence the Active Principle of our exist¬ 
ence, the beneficent means of self-happiness; but, 
that this happiness may not become a mere selfish 


Chap. VIII.] 


THE ALPHA. 


361 


possession, thou hast seen that it might be enlarged 
almost indefinitely by the means which are afforded 
us of its universal distribution. Thou hast seen 
that out of a knowledge of ourselves comes a Love of 
our brethren: for, to know a man, is to know why 
he is what he is ; and be he never so vile, to know 
why he is vile is to pity him. Pity grows active to 
help him ; and active pity — what does it lack of 
Love ? Intelligence is the parent of this Love : it is 
Happiness seeking to extend itself, and to increase 
itself by Distribution. Thou hast seen that out of 
Love like this, but infinitely greater, sprung this 
universe of wonders; sprung Man, whose Soul shall 
be itself a universe; and all this—that Deific Love 
might have sharers in its beatitude. Thus, indeed, 
did God create Man “ in his own likenesslike 
Himself as being an Intelligent Principle, pure, 
spiritual, and eternal: like Himself as being capable 
only of knowledge, which is at once Happiness and 
Power : and like Himself as being by nature endued 
with Love, which, by seeking to extend itself amongst 
others, is its own “ exceeding great reward.” Thou 
hast seen that to awaken this Love in the human 
family came the Martyr of Love, who, whilst living, 
taught it by his own beautiful example; and who, 
dying, bequeathed it to an erring, mistaken, un¬ 
believing world. If these magnificent verities are 
thine, my dear Reader: if, like thy unknown Mentor, 
thou Jcnowest them to be true, thou art a happy man. 
What thou yet lackest of felicity is in thy own power. 
Be diligent, and thou shalt obtain the ample residue. 
Seek, and thou shalt find. Knock, and the arcana 
of which thou hast the master-key shall be opened 
unto thee. What thou hast is thine. It is a treasure 
which thieves cannot steal, nor moth corrupt, nor 
violence despoil thee of. Distribute it: distribute it 
2 B 


362 


THE ALPHA. 


[Part II. 





amongst thy brethren ; and the Millennium of Intel¬ 
lect and Happiness will come,—and come to all ; 
and thus a righteous end shall be accomplished 
righteously. 


E.N.H. 


LbA P ?9 


LONDON: 

THOMAS HARRILD, PRINTER, SILVER STREET, 
FALCON SQUARE. 



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